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1 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 




LiJiaiJ^rtciK 



THREE YEARS 

IN 

SAVAGE AFRICA 



BY 

LIONEL DECLE 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 

H. M. STANLEY, M.P. 
5 



WITH loo ILLUSTRATIONS AND 5 MAPS 

FROM ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHS, SKETCHES, AND SURVEYS BY THE AUTHOR 



M. F. MANSFIELD 

NEW YORK 

i8q8 



'13 



\ 



^ 



TO 

CECIL JOHN RHODES 

TO WHOM WE OWE 

THE OPENING OUT OF THE FAIREST PROVINCES OF AFRICA 

TO THE TRADE AND CIVILIZATION 

OF ALL NATIONS 

Zbis JSooft Is BeMcatet) 

AS A TRIBUTE OF ADMIRATION AND GRATITUDE 

TO THE MOST CREATIVE OF STATESMEN 

AND THE MOST GENEROUS OF MEN 



INTRODUCTION 



MR. LIONEL DECLE, the author of this book, has 
conferred upon me the honour of introducing him 
to the British pubHc. During the last three years he has 
been heard from repeatedly. After his return from his 
great African journey he came into notice as the cham- 
pion of the cause of Mr. Stokes, that unfortunate trader 
who, it will be remembered, was so summarily hanged by 
an official of the Congo State. He then became attached 
to the Pall Mall Gazette, for which he wrote several 
vigorous articles upon African events and politics, and 
afterwards he represented the journal in Russia during 
the last days of the late Czar and the wedding of the 
present Emperor. To students of African travels and 
geography he is not so well known as this book shows 
he deserves to be. 

Mr. Decle, though domiciled in England, is a French- 
man by birth and parentage, and comes from a good 
family. From his earliest youth he exhibited an aptitude 
for travel. At nine years old he was taken to Italy, and 
a year later his parents took him to Egypt and up the 
Nile. In successive years he accompanied his people to 
Belgium, Holland, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, until he 
had almost gone the round of Europe. When he was 
fourteen he first became fascinated with mountain climb- 
ing, and by the time he was eighteen he had accomplished 
several first ascents and climbed many of the highest 
peaks of the Alps. It was during this period that he 
acquired the art of observing, through his father's insist- 



INTRODUCTION 

ence that he should carefully describe his impressions and 
note down every incident of his rambles and excursions. 

Between 1881 and 1885 he made the grand tour of the 
world on a more extended scale than is usually followed 
by the ordinary globe-trotter. He visited the whole of 
India, up to the frontier of Thibet. He penetrated into 
Burmah, Cochin-China, Cambodia, China, and Japan 
besides paying visits to the Straits Settlements, Java, 
and the Pescadore Islands. After the traverse of America, 
he returned home ripe with knowledge, having seen many 
lands and many cities. 

Finally, after performing several minor journeys, Mr. 
Decle, in 1890, was entrusted by the French Government 
with one of those scientific missions, about which we have 
heard rather frequently from Continental travellers. Mr. 
Decle's mission was to proceed to South and East Africa, 
to study their ethnology and anthropology, for which he 
was peculiarly well qualified by his training during years 
of travels, and a lengthened practice of observation. The 
results of his researches are embodied in the narrative of 
Three Years in Savage Africa. 

On his return from Africa, however, Mr. Decle was 
received with marked coldness by both the French 
Government and the French Press. He was reproached 
with having been too partial towards the British Adminis- 
trations in the various countries he had travelled, and 
especially with having been too biassed against the French 
padres in Uganda, and having charged them with political 
intrigue. Another cause of the censoriousness of the 
French was his staunch support of Mr. Cecil Rhodes' 
African policy. The British, on the other hand, received 
him most kindly, and paid him high compliments for his 
brilliant feat of African travel, and, as I have said, he 
ultimately became a contributor and special correspondent 
of an English newspaper. After his trip to Russia he was 
offered by the Times and Pall Mall Gazette a commission 
to represent them during the late French campaign in 



INTRODUCTION 

Madagascar, but as the French Government was anxious 
to have him organize the native transport of the expedi- 
tion, he accepted that office instead. In July, 1895, this 
duty terminated, and on coming to England he joined the 
staff of the Pall Mall once more. On the dismissal of 
his friend Mr. Cust from the editorship he also resigned 
and a little later he accompanied Mr. Cust on a nine 
months' tour in South Africa. 

It should be mentioned that as Mr. Decle was brought 
up by an English nurse he speaks our language as well as 
his own, perfectly, and almost without an accent. He is 
also proficient in German and Portuguese, and has a 
sufficient knowledge of Hindustani and Kiswahili for 
colloquial purposes. 

After these preliminary remarks about our author's 
personality, it is time for me to try and describe, as 
briefly as I may, his great African journey, the methods 
of his travels, and the results obtained from them. 

This journey extended over 7000 miles, between Cape 
Town, at the extremity of Africa, and Mombasa on the 
eastern coast, a little south of the equator. It cuts across 
four different zones of exploration ; first, the South African, 
with which scores of explorers from Livingstone to Selous 
are associated ; second, the Nyasa zone which gave fame 
to such men as Livingstone, Kirk, Bishop Mackenzie, and 
lastly Sir H. H. Johnston ; third, the Tanganika zone, 
which recalls the names of Burton, Speke, Livingstone, 
and others ; and fourthly, the Equatorial zone, which 
reminds us of the exploits of Speke, Grant, Emin Pasha, 
Mackay, and many a C. M. S. missionary. His object 
was to study the ethnology and anthropology of the 
interior tribes and nations of Inner Africa, as has been 
already said, and to achieve this he united these zones 
by one continuous journey. Notwithstanding these ex- 
tensive travels he modestly disclaims being an explorer, 
denies having any financial interest to gain, and states 
that he had no political mission or was attached to any 



INTRODUCTION 

administration, and that France had no claims to any 
portion of Africa that he visited. The journey grew to 
such a length solely through trifling circumstances. 
Frequently he was tempted to return through illness, 
or finding himself at advantageous points for easily reach- 
ing the coast, but again and again he was led to turn 
his face away from the sea — and so he continued his 
wanderings until finally he reached Uganda, whence, 
after a time, failing health obliged him to make his 
way to Mombasa. 

Despite the necessity of paying due regard to the 
principal objects of his mission, it is too clear that Mr. 
Decle was possessed with an innate love of adventure, 
as well as a very laudable curiosity to see as much of 
Africa as possible. South Africa was attracting public 
attention at that period by its treasures of diamonds 
and gold, and its politics as represented by the names 
of Rhodes and Kruger. It is rather significant of the 
effect of his political studies that the record of his travels 
is dedicated to Mr. Rhodes " as a tribute of admiration 
and gratitude to the most creative of statesmen, and the 
most generous of men." The dedication fitly includes the 
chief reasons for the esteem with which all South Africans 
regard Mr. Rhodes, since there is no doubt that his munifi- 
cence as evinced at Cape Town, Kimberley, Johannesburg, 
■ Bulawayo, and Salisbury, and to numberless individuals, 
has stirred the hearts of the people as much as his bold 
and successful projects for aggrandizing the empire have 
won their admiration. 

When Mr. Decle commenced his journey, the Great 
South African trunk railway had only reached Vryburg, 
the Chartered Company was but just then in possession 
of Mashonaland ; Lobengula was still in his kraal at 
Bulawayo ; Mr. Rhodes was heavily subsidizing British 
Central Africa ; the Germans had not yet advanced to 
Lake Tanganika ; and Uganda was being nursed by Sir 
W. Mackinnon : consequently all the regions he visited 



INTRODUCTION 

were still somewhat benighted, though the dawn was 
breaking and the sounds foretelling the changes so soon 
to come were in the air. Therefore a last look around at 
the countries destined to be awakened out of their long 
sleep cannot fail to be interesting. 

The traveller reached Cape Town in May, 1891, by one 
of the Castle steamers. By the few remarks he makes upon 
this fine seaport he reveals the fact that Africa was a terra 
incognita to him. He imagined it to be a kind of Bombay 
or Calcutta and is sadly disappointed. He does not find 
it picturesque, because the savages he expected to meet are 
mere " black-looking villains " dressed in European clothes, 
who drink hard, hate work, and speak Dutch. From this 
kind of plain speaking, in which he indulges at the outset, 
we are led to believe that whatever he thinks worth telling, 
will be told in as clear idiomatic English as he can com- 
mand, and we gather that his whole aim is to honestly 
describe all that he sees. 

His real African experiences begin at Vryburg, the 
terminus of the railway. He there invests in buck 
waggons and becomes the owner of thirty-six draught 
oxen, and starts across the veld on the 25th of June. 
His first trek and the night following are described in 
vivid words. His camp is deluged by rain, the lightning 
is terrific, the thunder crashes are appalling, the canvas 
is stripped off the waggons, the wind and rain extinguishes 
the lanterns, and drenched to the skin and in utter dark- 
ness his little expedition passes the first night. This 
misadventure is ominous — it seems to us calamitous 
occurrences are freqiient. His waggons stick in the sand, 
thirty-four oxen are hitched to one waggon, but despite 
tremendous tugging and frantic yelling, shrieking, and 
whipping, it is immovable. They dig out the sand from 
before the wheels and try again without success, until at 
last they are obliged to unload, and then only can they 
move it. On the next trek they have to pass a morass, 
into which one of the waggons sinks four feet, and the 
xi 



INTRODUCTION 

united efforts of thirty-four oxen cannot budge it Night 
is falHng, the traveller is " dying " of hunger, but as the 
provisions are in the vehicle behind he must make an 
effort to reach them. The first step he takes sinks him 
to the knees in muck. He recovers himself, remounts the 
waggon, and has to sit caged in it all night with famishing 
vitals. 

This rough baptism of the traveller ends in a rheumatic 
fever, and while suffering from its effects, he comes across 
an English farm. The owner is affable, gives him milk, 
and shows him where to outspan. This is in such contrast 
to the treatment he received from a Cape Boer, that we 
are not surprised at his abuse of the Cape Dutchmen in 
general, whose intelligences he says are " dull and dry," 
like the country of their birth. 

On the fifteenth day from Vryburg he reached Mafeking, 
which' is now a considerable town on the open and treeless 
prairie, 4194 feet above the sea, and 870 miles from Cape 
Town. Mr. Decle found it to consist of a few buildings, 
chiefly of corrugated iron, grouped around the market 
square. Since then it has become famous as the starting 
place of the young lads who followed Jameson into the 
Transvaal. We lately made the journey from Vryburg 
to Mafeking in a few hours in a comfortable railway 
carriage, and the touch of an electric bell brought us a 
meal, five o'clock tea, or a mint julep whenever it was 
needed. At night we slept between snowy sheets, during 
the day we wrote our letters or read novels. But Mr. 
Decle had to undergo veritable torture during his journey. 
Sleep was impossible while the waggons were moving, as 
he was pitched continually from one side to the other, and 
narrowly escaped fracturing his head against the hard 
wooden walls of his vehicle. Added to which the monotony 
was terrible. " Nothing," he says, " is more tiring to the 
sight and depressing to the spirits than these limitless 
plains for days and weeks at a stretch." The dust was also 
blinding, for the red sand was kicked up by the feet of 



INTRODUCTION 

the oxen, and the waggon moved through a moving cloud 
of fine sand. 

But notwithstanding these unpleasantnesses, the traveller 
by ox-waggon has greater opportunities of studying 
nature than the rail tourist. He has daily talks 
with chiefs and people, and becomes familiar with their 
nature and lives, hears their local traditions, discovers 
their vices and their virtues. We, flying by rail at 
twenty - five miles an hour, get but mere glimpses of 
brown faces and scantily costumed bodies, a momentary 
peep at clusters of huts, and a passing glance at the 
top of an uniform bush. Those who are not students 
of primitive humanity will not care to be banged against 
rocks in a springless buck -waggon, or jerked against 
boulders with the waggon bed at an angle of 40°, or stuck 
in fetid mud for hours ; nor would they like to be sub- 
jected to tropical downpours, or to be baked in the sun, 
and, when they want to wash, be charged a shilling for 
a basin of water or a sovereign for helping one out of 
the mud ; and they certainly would object when just going 
to sleep to have their tent or waggon canvas whipped 
off by a tornado and to have the trouble of outspanning 
and inspanning every six miles of a thousand mile journey. 
How many of us would like to be devoured by anxiety 
about our cattle, who must needs stray far to get nourish- 
ment, and are therefore exposed to lions and other feral 
creatures ; who sicken from eating poisonous plants, or the 
badness of the water, fatigue, and thirst? Men like Mr. 
Decle must, however, suffer all these horrors, and worse. 
He risked catching typhoid by drinking from tainted 
pools and wells, nay, sometimes he had to quench his 
thirst with liquid manure. 

At Palapshwe, a town of 15,000 people, typhoid epi- 
demics raged from the refuse being thrown near the 
drinking water. While he was there more than forty 
people died daily from typhoid. It was also one of the 
worst places for horse sickness, and hundreds of oxen 



INTRODUCTION 

perished daily from lung disease, and the heaps of carcases 
increased the insanitation. Mr. Decle confesses to have 
had enjoyments during his troublous waggon journey, 
but with the horrors above mentioned — the great heat, 
the gnats, stingy Boers, tiresome natives, mud, dust and 
flies, which harassed and aged him — these must have been 
very rare, or we should have heard more of them. His 
reflections are such as belong to a forgiving disposition. 
*' After all," he says, " a journey to Central Africa is not 
so very terrible. It is very monotonous. One must be 
endowed with an inexhaustible fund of patience and a 
good stomach, bear many things without disgust, be able 
to drink putrid water, eat no matter what, be without 
meat, sugar, or salt for days, sleep whole nights in water, 
remain long without washing ; for if one only makes up 
his mind to endure the mean, degrading life, there will 
be no disappointment." But, alas ! how many of us could 
endure all these things ? 

Every few pages or so we have a bold sketch of a native 
chief, who is stripped of all romance. Men like Ikaneng 
— who is jet black, six feet high, with a full grey beard, 
and dressed in European clothes — who is unkind to our 
traveller because he has no letter for him from the 
Colonial Government ; or, like Khantura, who was once 
half-executed by Lobengula and subsequently became 
an independent chief, and now passes his time in smoking 
bhang ; or, like Khama, who is presented in such an 
unpleasant light, and appears to be too good to please 
South Africans. 

Missionaries do not seem to have taken kindly to Mr. 
Decle. His experiences with them cause us to imagine 
that in hospitality they are inferior to the natives. Their 
houses, for instance, contain no guest-room, while the 
native village always contains a " lekothla," or guest- 
house, for the reception of the stranger, and possesses a 
" king's field," the produce of which is devoted to a visitor's 
wants. 



INTRODUCTION 

Within four months Mr. Decle reached the Zambezi. 
He crossed the river, and for two months Hved among the 
Barotse people. His remarks upon this nation are full of 
interest, and despite his gift of condensation, the notes he 
gives of them prove him excellently qualified for the 
investigation of native manners and customs, and show 
his genius for making dry matter agreeable reading. 

In December, 1891, he starts on his return from the 
Zambezi, with only two tins of sardines, an ounce of salt, 
and ten pounds of coffee for provisions, while his kit is 
reduced to two flannel shirts, two under vests, three pairs 
of stockings, a patched pair of knickerbockers, and a hat 
without any crown to it. His barter stores are extremely 
limited — for they consist of only six yards of sheeting and 
a pound of beads. His means of defence are a revolver 
and a rifle with five cartridges. Awful as his experiences 
were from Vryburg to the Zambezi, they are tame 
compared to those he meets on his return journey. 
Misery in one shape or another haunts him continually, 
and such startling adventures happen to him, that we 
expect every minute to read that one of them has been 
his last, and wonder to what other hand is due the rest of 
the book. Fortunately he passes through his many perils 
safely, and arrives at Palapshwe again. 

Though woe-begone and terribly emaciated, he has no 
sooner recovered a little strength, than he abandons his 
purpose of going home and prepares to visit Lobengula at 
Bulawayo. 

The troubles along the road to Bulawayo are principally 
at the crossing of the flooded rivers. They are described 
in a vivid style, which makes us realize his danger and fills 
us with anxiety for him ; but while we constantly expect 
a final catastrophe, good fortune rescues him from every 
predicament. 

We who have just seen Bulawayo preening itself for the 
great destiny which awaits it, and entertaining 300 guests 
at the Palace Hotel, can relish the description of the place 



INTRODUCTION 

as it appeared to Mr. Decle in February, 1892. " Imagine 
a huge plain, extending for miles, with only two or three 
trees rising above a short, miserable-looking grass, all over 
which were strewn human bones, the remnants of Lo Ben's 
victims. In the distance rose a flat-topped hill, Thaba 
Induna — the Hill of the Induna — so named because a 
number of induna (generals) were once put to death 
there. On the left was a rise, on the top of which could 
be seen the tips of a stockade, Lobengula's kraal. In the 
middle of the plain were three groups of miserable tumble- 
down native huts, half a dozen of which stood together 
surrounded by a reed fence. These were the habitations 
of the only three European settlers in the place." 

At Hope Fountain Mission, 12 miles from Bulawayo, he 
receives such hospitality from a missionary that amply 
makes amends for any unkindness shown to him by other 
reverend gentlemen. During a whole month he enjoys 
the delights of a Christian home, and is nursed until health 
and strength are recovered. 

In his remarks upon the Matabele, he exhibits his 
aptitude for observation and study of the natives, and is 
always felicitous in his description of their character. 

In the latter part of April, 1892, he leaves Hope 
Fountain and endeavours to discover a better watered 
route to the Victoria Falls ; but after varying difficulties 
he returns a third time to Palapshwe in Khama's territory, 
intending to go back to Cape Town. However, meeting 
a party of officers at that place, he becomes animated 
with a desire to visit the Zimbabwe ruins, and in July 
he starts for Mashonaland. The first sign of the coming 
civilization he meets is a frontier bar, at which an English 
profligate who has run through ;^ 100,000 deals out drinks 
at the small wage of ;^20 per mensem. The patrons of 
the bar are of all classes, from the British peer to the 
Yankee cowboy. Among the Company's police he is 
astonished to find brilliant conversationalists, men who 
have been intimate with the best club society in London, 



INTRODUCTION 

naval and military officers, who appear to be sufficiently 
happy with £,<) a month, and rejoice in their outdoor 
life. 

After his visit to the ancient ruins Mr. Decle returns to 
Fort Victoria, disposes of his waggons and cattle, and 
travels by mail cart to Fort Salisbury. His chapter on 
Mashonaland is remarkable for its good sense, its happy 
forecasts, and its appreciation of the agricultural value 
of the soil. The tone is excellent, and shows unmistakable 
evidence of ripening judgment. He has not only the 
knack of getting at valuable facts, but he has a retentive 
memory, and charmingly relates what he hears. Such 
faults as may be here and there in the book professional 
critics may be left to deal with, and therefore I confine 
myself to pointing out the undeniable merits of book 
and author. I think, however, some of the strictures on 
the Congo Free State might have been omitted, at least 
until he had visited it. 

In October Mr. Decle begins what we may call the 
second stage of his journey, that which takes him across 
the Zambezi through Nyasaland to Ujiji on Lake Tan- 
ganika. Among the numerous incidents of travel at the 
outset of this stage are his meeting with a man called 
Sagamuga, who has strong inclinations to murder him, a 
visit to the great caves of Sinoia, his experiences with 
a real Portuguese, who has a white skin but a black 
heart, whose glib welcome ends in curses loud and deep, 
his travels with a Governor and a doctor, and the pitiful 
condition in which the three pass a night. 

The historical chapters on the Portuguese of the 
Zambezi and British occupation in Nyasaland are most 
entertaining, because Mr. Decle is always so frank, 
genuine, and faultlessly simple in his diction. He is 
never ambiguous or dull, and every sentence, despite 
the fact that he writes in a language foreign to him, 
runs smooth, as though he were to the manner born. 

At Zomba he meets with Sir H. H. Johnston, the 



INTRODUCTION 

Commissioner of Nyasaland. After a stay of several 
days, during which he enjoyed unstinted hospitahty, he 
fears he is outstaying his time, and meditates going down 
the Zambezi and home, but consulting his host new ideas 
are furnished to him. " Why not," said Sir Harry, " go 
to Nyasaland, cross to Lake Tanganika, and thence to 
Ujiji? From there you could reach the Victoria Nyanza, 
and thus get to Uganda. Then perhaps you would find 
Sir Gerald Portal and march down to the coast with him." 
Needless to say, he eventually accepted the suggestion 
and accomplished it to the letter. He took passage in 
the steamer Domira in March, 1893, as she was bound for 
Karonga at the north end of Nyasa Lake. The voyage' 
he calls a heart-breaking one. He was stranded in the 
mud for nine days while racked with fever, diarrhoea, and 
stomachic pains. Getting freed finally, the steamer ran 
for ten minutes and plunged again into a sand-bar, which 
held her for three days longer. Freed a second time, a 
day was spent in cutting fuel and replacing one of her 
twin screws which had been smashed. Then came perils 
from storms, as the boat was terribly overcrowded. The 
cabin was a mere " cupboard with two bunks, while the 
fare consisted largely of cockroaches, bugs, flies, fleas, and 
ants." The unpleasant lake voyage lasted twenty-six days 
— the lake being 360 miles in length. 

Reaching terra firma, he started with a caravan of 
sixty-seven men on his march overland between the 
Nyasa and Tanganika. On the fourth day he was on 
the uplands, which he likens to the plateaus of Mashona- 
land. Our traveller meets with the usual troubles that 
beset the white who depends upon black porters for his 
transport. One of the men is caught stealing and is 
flogged, presently the porters desert in a body because 
they think they are underpaid ; but as he hates reciting 
commonplace annoyances, he stops further mention of 
them to find room for the odd bits of information which 
he gathers about native pests, diseases, superstition, 



INTRODUCTION 

wars, &.C. He is clever in lightening his paragraphs, and 
before we are aware of it we arrive with Mr. Decle at Lake 
Tanganika, though the march has consumed the best part 
of a month. At Kituta, at the south end of the lake, he 
chartered an arab dhow, by which after nine days' sail he 
reached Ujiji, " more dead than alive." 

When Captains Burton and Speke, in February, 1858, 
came to Ujiji as the discoverers of Lake Tanganika, the 
bazaar was some hundred yards from the edge of the 
lake. When thirteen years later I met Livingstone at 
this place, the market-place was just about the same dis- 
tance from the water. At present it is about half a mile, 
which shows how much the Lukuga outlet has emptied the 
lake. From this town Mr. Decle proceeds to give us a 
view of East Africa as it existed in 1893, some twenty- 
one years later than when I first saw it. We may there- 
fore call Ujiji ^ the terminus of the third stage of our 
traveller's journey. 

After a running commentary on the Arab slavers, 
the slave trade, and the aborigines, and giving his 
usual dig at the Congo State, Mr. Decle adapts himself 
to the habits of the Central African traveller, engages 
a caravan of porters, and starts for Urambo, so named 
after the famous Mirambo, In blackmailing Uhha he 
meets with various difficulties, which are tided over with 
his customary good luck. At Mtali's he encounters the 
van of the Germans who are going to occupy and 
Germanize the lake port. With the commanders he 
settles a quarrel between Mtali and his brother, though 
the peace did not long continue. Soon after his departure 
he heard the boom of the German cannon, and came near 
being involved in a war with the Wahha in consequence. 
Though Mr. Decle sometimes imprudently mixes himself 
with local questions, he passed through without bloodshed, 
and safely reached Urambo, where, according to him, he 
was " petted and spoiled " by another missionary. The 
mission was founded in 1881, and since then its moderating 



k 



INTRODUCTION 

influence on the turbulent, war-loving Wanyamwezi has 
been most marked. Tuga Moto, Mirambo's son, now 
reigns in his father's place, and received Mr. Decle with 
perfect courtesy and in a way most unusual to natives. 
One of the curiosities of this place is a necklace of 
human teeth, all of which have been extracted from the 
heads of Arabs slain by Mirambo in the war 1872-76, 

In remarking upon the characteristics and customs of 
the Wanyamwezi, Mr. Decle again shows his talents for 
stringing together ethnological facts in a pleasing manner. 
His sentences are not clogged with native names and 
words, consequently such chapters look clean and attrac- 
tive, and invite perusal. 

Of his march to Tabora, the once great entrepot of the 
Arabs in Central Africa, Mr. Decle remembers little, as 
nearly the whole time he was lying in a hammock in a 
semi-conscious state. This settlement will be remembered 
by readers of African books as the refitting place of many 
African explorers, such as Burton and Speke, Speke and 
Grant, Livingstone and Stanley, Cameron and Dillon, &c. 
Since the advance of the Belgians up the Congo it has 
lost its importance, and only a few Arabs cling to it. 

At the latter end of August, 1893, Mr. Decle struck 
northward to gain the shores of the Victoria Nyanza. 
The traveller has often been the victim of misadventures 
at every stage of his journey. He has suffered greatly 
from thirst and starvation, he has oft been in danger from 
wild beasts and wild men, but on this stage we find him 
tortured by jiggers and ticks, put to flight by swarms of 
wild bees, and much disturbed by vermin. It is wonderful 
how the jiggers have spread across the continent. In the 
sixties they were first brought to St. Paul de Loanda 
along with some lumber from Brazil. In the eighties the 
Congo Expeditions carried them up the Congo. The 
Emin Relief Expedition conveyed them through the 
Great Forest to Kavalli. In 1 891-2 the Soudanese of 
Emin brought them to Uganda, and just about the same 



INTRODUCTION 

time Tippu Tib's Manyema carried them to Ujiji and 
East Africa, and the Arabs of Ujiji imported them to 
Nyasaland. 

During this journey Mr. Decle had opportunities of 
viewing the German military stations at Muanza, Bukoba 
and Ukerewe, and reflects severely on the German 
methods of civilizing as pursued by the non-commis- 
sioned officers. He cites several instances of excessive 
abuse of authority, and according to him the Worst 
practices of the aboriginal chiefs, or slave-trading Arabs, 
were innocent compared to the barbarities perpetrated 
by Germans intoxicated with power. Fortunately about 
the time that the whipping business which he daily 
witnessed was beginning to pall on him, the expected 
boats arrived, and he was enabled to depart across Lake 
Victoria. 

The description of the fourth stage of his journey 
embraces nearly a half of Mr. Decle's book. It begins 
with his trip to Uganda, and ends with his exit out of 
Africa at Mombasa. He precedes his adventures in 
Uganda with a resume of the events that led to the 
British occupation, and this leads to the account of how 
he became involved in " Roddy " Owen's brilliant dash 
upon Unyoro. The whole chapter is exciting, as with 
his accustomed easy style he glides along from adventure 
to incident, smoothly blending instruction with interest, 
and never allows a paragraph to lag. Anyone who has 
doubts regarding the causes by which Emin's old troops 
fell in the esteem of the English officials in Uganda, need 
but glance at a few pages of Chapter XIX. There he will 
find that the alertness of Major Owen and the firmness 
of Captain Macdonald saved Uganda from the fate of 
Emin's old province of Equatoria. Troops which had so 
long enjoyed their own sweet wills could not possibly be 
depended upon for long, but they received their first 
lessons of discipline from Owen and Macdonald, and if 
the control of them is always as firm there will be no 
occasion to repeat it. xxi 



INTRODUCTION 

Stimulated by the magnetic influence of Owen, Mr. 
Decle soon enrolled himself as a volunteer in the service 
of the British, and thus the man who was said by the 
Germans to be going to Uganda to make the English 
" sit up " is actually found to be working a Maxim against 
the enemies of the English. It is not the first time by 
many that Mr. Decle, who was expected to denounce 
the British, turns round to bless them. His services 
against Unyoro were heartily acknowledged by Col. Sir 
Henry Colvile. The expedition against Kabbarega was, 
as we know, a complete success, though the Germans 
anticipated it would be "chewed up, as the English had 
no discipline." Whether there is discipline or not, there 
must be something equally good to enable young British 
officers to succeed so well as they do, even when tre- 
mendous odds, as on this occasion, are arrayed against 
them. 

When he finally determined upon returning to the coast, 
Mr. Decle's good luck, which had often saved him from a 
desperate position, aids him once again. Col. Colvile 
wants his dispatches to reach Mombasa, and thereupon 
lends him an armed escort and fifty Snider carbines. Mr. 
Scott Elliot, who has just arrived in Uganda, is dissatisfied 
with forty of his men and wishes to discharge them, upon 
which Mr. Decle gladly enlists them, and these with his 
own thirty followers make up a sufficient force to venture 
through Masai land. On the 6th February, 1894, he turns 
his face towards home. At the crossing of the Nile he has 
considerable difficulties with native ferrymen and chiefs, 
and the conduct of two missionaries angers him. Reaching 
Lubwa's — the scene of Bishop Hannington's murder — he 
obtains the assistance of the officer commanding, by which 
he passes through Usoga without trouble. Early in March 
he finds himself in Kavirondo, the villages of which are 
remarkable for their high earth ramparts and deep fosses. 
The people go about stark naked, and strange to say the 
men take kindly to field work. 



INTRODUCTION 

A few days later he met the Masai, who were obviously 
bent on plundering ; but the long mileage which he has 
covered since leaving Cape Town has taught him much, 
and timely precautions save his camp. He then enters a 
country where herds of antelope, zebra, hartebeest, wilde- 
beest abound, and, of course, our traveller must try his 
hand at game-killing — in which he is fairly successful. 
With hunting incidents, visits from lions, and predatory 
Masai, lie varies this stage of his journey most entertain- 
ingly, and at the end of March arrives at Kikuyu. 
Formerly the aborigines of this region had an evil reputa- 
tion, but the civilized administration is gradually weaning 
them from their bad habits, and, being devoted to agricul- 
ture, they will no doubt in time become valuable subjects. 

After a needful rest for himself and carriers he set off in 
early April for Machakos, another of the British stations. 
The natives 'are intelligent and industrious, and form a 
kind of patriarchal republic. Mr. Decle furnishes many 
interesting particulars concerning their political organiza- 
tion, laws, and curious manners, but their personal 
appearance does no justice to their many excellent 
qualities. The vicinity of the station is notable for its 
great crops of bananas and masses of flowers. It is 
situated at an altitude of 5400 feet above sea level, sur- 
rounded by hills with cultivated slopes, and so temperate is 
the climate that European fruit and cereals would probably 
do well. 

The country between Machakos and the coast is crossed 
over hurriedly by master and men, as all are anxious to 
reach civilization as soon as possible. Of Ukambani and 
its uninhabited plains, of Teita with its grassy plains, and 
the waterless deserts Nyika, we therefore hear little. Just 
as the third year of his travels is completed, Mr. Decle has 
the pleasure of finding himself on board a steamer bound 
to Zanzibar, with the comfortable reflection that he has 
been the first to unite the four zones of African explora- 
tion in one long continuous journey of 7000 miles. 
xxiii 



INTRODUCTION 

After the exciting narrative which has been hurriedly 
outHned in this introduction, Mr. Decle proceeds to give a 
summary of his impressions upon what he has seen, but 
each reader must determine for himself whether he renders 
a fair and judicious judgment upon administrations and 
individuals. He confesses to having expressed himself 
here and there with a too great candour, and it may be 
that he has been a little inconsiderate, it being true, as he 
saySy that most travellers find it easier to find fault in men 
and things than to discover their good qualities. However, 
if administrations and individuals do not mind the criticism 
the reader is benefited by the candour of the critic. Mr. 
Decle's honesty of intention is unquestionable, and there- 
fore we are enabled to see the reverse side of things from 
one who has no personal interest to serve. We must also 
be lenient to youth and overlook the impulsiveness of a 
generous temper. Otherwise if we harshly blame, we 
shall lose more than we gain, and we would rather, as 
seekers after truth, hear a sincere witness give his testi- 
mony in his own way than not at all. Besides, Mr. Decle 
is as frank about his own acts as he is with regard to the 
acts of others. 

The book now published is really a prose kinetoscope, 
which faithfully translates the spirit rather than the details 
of three years' travels. From the Cape to Mombasa the 
long extent of country glides by the .reader without giving 
him any fatigue or sense of weariness. The easy style 
enables us to see the natives without anger or disgust, 
though we are often aware that they must be trying and 
sometimes dangerous. No page is dull, there is scarcely 
one paragraph we wish to skip. It is all so refreshingly 
frank and related so simply. One adventure follows 
another so rapidly, the dangerous situations in which he 
is so often found lead us on to see what will eventually 
become of him. The lack of small details makes us some- 
times imagine that he has an aptitude for misadventure, 
and we are often persuaded that he is beyond hope of 



INTRODUCTION 

salvation. But the style is natural to the writer ; his art 
is the outcome of his own artlessness. His touch is light, 
his language clear and idiomatic, his tastes are simple, and 
the result is one of the brightest books of travel we have 
ever read. The ideal German would have exhausted 
volumes in elaborating the minutiae of such a journey as 
Mr. Decle so successfully accomplished. 

The author's remark that " things have changed enor- 
mously ever since Mr. Stanley's great journey, and that 
Africa is in the rapidest state of transition," is confirmed 
by the even greater changes that have taken place in the 
Dark Continent since he passed through — brief as the 
time has been. For Bulawayo is now connected by rail 
with Cape Town ; great waterworks have been established 
in the city and its neighbourhood. Bulawayo is great 
for its broad avenues and wide streets, its several brick 
churches, its handsome edifices, its club, its scores of villas 
and populous suburbs, its grand public pleasaunce, and its 
newsboys who run through the streets crying out the 
titles of the daily newspapers. 

Salisbury is not the town that Mr. Decle knew ; its 
population now numbers as many thousands as it then 
did hundreds. Two railways are approaching the town, 
the farms in the neighbourhood are flourishing, and the 
mines are in a forward state of development. 

Even Portuguese Tete has improved, being now the 
head of the Zambezi navigation. Every point touched 
by the traveller between Bulawayo and Mombasa would 
require to be described anew to do justice to it. The 
overland telegraph has reached Blantyre, the steamers 
afloat on the Nyasa are larger and more numerous, the 
transport is perfected, the slave trade has been totally 
extinguished, and the advance of Nyasaland has been 
phenomenal since 1893. 

The shores of Lake Tanganika also bear evidences of the 
changes Africa has witnessed of late years. The West 
Coast is studded with military stations and great mission 



INTRODUCTION 

establishments, and regular communication is maintained 
as far as Lake Kivu. Thence down the East Coast as far 
as Ujiji the land has been fairly occupied by the Germans. 

As for Ujiji, the difference between what Mr. Decle 
saw and what it is now is most surprising. A fortnight 
after he left it the improvement began. An English 
traveller last year declared that its population amounted 
to 20,000 ; that it was arranged in one long, wide street, 
lined with mango trees ; that the government buildings 
were of stone and double-storeyed ; and that it held a 
garrison of 200 soldiers. 

The greatest changes have, however, occurred in Uganda 
and British East Africa. British authority has been estab- 
lished over all the regions between Lake Victoria and the 
White Nile. There is a strong administration supported 
by Indian troops in Uganda. Indian merchants have 
established businesses there, and the exports for 1896 
amounted to ^^30,000. The whites now number about 
250 ; Christian work is represented by 2,7^ churches and 
100,000 converts. Mombasa is connected by a long bridge 
with the mainland, and the head of the great railway is 
now near the isoth mile from the coast. Two steamers 
have been floated on the Nyanza, and a good road, suit- 
able for waggons, runs between the rail-head and the lake 
shores. Loaded porters perform the journey in much less 
than ninety days, while one bicyclist has been known to do 
it in twenty-one days. 

It is safe to say that since Mr. Decle's time over 6000 
whites have settled along his line of march, and when we 
think that each white, on an average, has ten blacks in his 
service, we can form an estimate of the improvements that 
are being made with 60,000 labourers. 

Great, however, as has been the advance during the last 
four years in the heart of " savage Africa," it is nothing to 
what it will be four years hence. Rhodesia is only just 
beginning to feel the benefits of its new railway, but by 
January, 1902, the country will be permeated by railways, 



INTRODUCTION 

the Zambezi will be joined by rail to Nyasa, while we 
may well hope that the locomotive will have reached the 
headwaters of the Nile. With the aid of the ox-waggon 
and the fickle pagazi the white civilizer did wonders ; but 
the locomotive, which is the great labour-saving machine 
for Africa, will have increased his powers many fold, 
and in the future we shall hear no more of stirring 
incidents, disasters, and distresses, such as Mr. Decle 
relates. 

With this rapid glance at Mr. Lionel Decle's person- 
ality, unique journey, and its vivid record, I heartily 
recommend the narrative to English readers for its in- 
trinsic interest, and the greatness of the achievement. 

HENRY M. STANLEY. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 
I. 
II. 
III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 



The Start. 

Khama 

Across the Desert 

The Barotse 

The Return through the Desert 

To BULAWAYO 

The Matabele 

Among the Makalaka 

Mashonaland 

From Salisbury to Tete 

The Portuguese on the Zambezi 

Nyasaland . 

From Nyasaland to Ujiji . 

From Ujiji to U ram bo 

The Wanyamwezi . 

Urambo to Tabora, 

From Tabora to Lake Victoria Nyanza 

Across Lake Victoria Nyanza to Uganda 

Uganda .... 

Uganda and its People 

From Uganda to Kikuyu . 

From Kikuyu to Machakos 

To Zanzibar 

The Problem of Africa : The Natives 

THE European Powers 
The Problem of Africa : The Political 

Situation 

Appendix I. 
Appendix II. 



PAGE 

5 

28 

39 
64 
87 
120 
150 
168 
184 
213 
239 
255 
281 

313 

342 
351 
355 
386 
404 
437 
452 
480 
495 

506 

536 

565 
573 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



My waggons . 

A South-African store 

Khama's people 

Khama, chief of the Bamangwato 

In Khama's country 

Masarwa nomads in the Kalahari 

Desert 
In the Kalahari Desert 
My house on the Zambezi . 
Type of Earotse 
A street in Shesheke 
Type of Mashubia 
Barotse implements 
Boats on the Zambezi at Kazun 

gula 
Type of Matoka 
The top of the Victoria Falls from 

the right bank 
The Zambezi above the Falls 
Travelling in the Kalahari 
Makalaka women on the road to 

Bulawayo . 
On the way to Bulawayo 
Crossing a drift 
A ringed man 
Lo Bengula , 
Type of Matabele 
Matabele women 
The queen's hut 
In the Makalaka country 
Makalaka girl 
Upset in a drift 
The old fort at Victoria 
The great wall, Zimbabwe 
The post-cart 
Mashona women 
A Mashona village 



17 
29 

31 
41 

49 
51 
61 

65 
71 

n 
83 

86 
91 

97 

lOI 

107 

123 

133 
135 
138 
H.3 
151 
159 
17' 
175 
180 
1S2 
189 
191 
201 
209 
212 



Type of Makolokolo 


PAGE 


The Cave of Sinoia . 


.215 


Sepolilo's son 


. 217 


Type at Sepolilo's 


. 218 


At Mashumpa's 


. 221 


Leaving Matakania's 


. 222 


Matakania's band 


• 223 


Village of Inhamecuta 


. 225 


Gorge of Kebra Baca 


. 228 


The Governor's caravan 


. 229 


Senga woman 


. 231 


Goa man 


. 232 


Goa woman . 


• 233 


Axes from the Lower Zam 


bezi . 237 


Type at Tete 


• 239 


The arrival of an ivory caravan . 245 


The mark of slavery on the chest 250 


Hippopotamus' head . 


• 253 


Type of Manianja . 


• 255 


British gunboats on the SI 


ire at 


Chikwawa . 


. 261 


Sir Harry Johnston and some of 


his staff . 


. 263 


Angoni at Chiradzulu 


• 273 


Sir Harry Johnston's house at 


Zomba 


• 277 


David Kanisa 


. 280 


Type of Atonga 


. 286 


Atonga woman 


. 287 


Tanganika hut 


. 291 


Village of Fwambo . 


. 296 


Mambwe woman and chile 


■ 297 


Native teeth from Nyasa . 


. 298 


Arab dhow on Lake Tanganika. 301 


Rumaliza's cook 


• 304 


A woman of fashion . 


. 306 


The market-place, Ujiji . 


- 310 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

Ujiji from Kasimbo . . -314 

Crossing the Malagrazi river . 332 
Mr. Shaw's house at Urambo . 337 
Tuga Moto, chief of Urambo . 340 
Weapons of the Wanyamwezi . 343 
Small Musimo huts in the forest 346 



My camp before a tembe . 
The village of Solwa 
Ivor}' armlet . . 

Usikuma milk jugs and goblets 



Speke Gulf, Lake Victoria Nyanza 378 



Boy receiving the kiboko 



Native German soldiers at Nuanza 3 



A clay doll, Usikuma 

Bukoba boat . 

Native hat 

Bahima pipe . 

Paddle 

Basiba boatmen on Lake Victoria 

Nyanza 
Axe . . . . 

Milk pot and cover . _ , 



360 
375 
376 
377 



381 



385 
3^7 
389 
389 
390 

391 
393 
395 



Kayoza's Katikiro 

The fort of Kampala from the 

south . . . . 

The capital of Uganda from Fort 

Kampala . . 

.Roddy Owen 
Mwanga's council hall 
Mwanga, king of Uganda, and 

the katikiro, his prime minister 
Lake Wamala from Fort Ray 

mond 
Soudanese and Lindu women 
One of the king's palaces . 
Mtesa's tomb 
Inyarugwe and Sabao 
Lubwa's katikiro 
The entrance gate of a village ir 

Kavirondo . 
Man of Kavirondo, painted 
A Masai warrior 
Masai ear ornament . 
A native of Ukambani 



PAGE 

399 

406 

407 
414 
417 

419 

423 
433 
441 

447 
453 
462 

463 
464 
466 
475 
485 



MAPS AND PLANS 



Map of Part of Africa 

Map of Matabele and Mashona Lands 

Map of Ujiji to Urambo 

Map of Tabora to Mwanza 

Map of Uganda 

Plan of the Victoria Falls 



Face 



120 
313 
3^3 
411 

99 



/ have to thank the managers of the '•'■ Pall Mall Magazi?ie" 
for permission to reproduce several of my photographs. The 
portrait of the late Major Owen is by Chancellor and Co., 
Dubliii. 



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THREE YEARS 

IN 

SAVAGE AFRICA 

PREFACE 

BEFORE proceeding with the description of my 
journey, I. want it to be understood that I do 
not wish to pose as an " explorer." Although I have 
often been described as such I really have no claim 
to the title. To Livingstone, Stanley, Burton, Speke, 
Grant, and a few other great pioneers we are indebted 
for our present knowledge of Africa. Before them and 
their work the great Continent was an unopened book, 
and they have left nothing to be discovered. To place 
myself in their category would be as preposterous as it 
would be impertinent. 

I have, it is true, performed the longest journey that has 
yet been achieved at one stretch from the Atlantic to the 
Indian Ocean ; but although I have covered a distance of 
over 7000 miles, and have been the first to go from the 
extreme south of Africa to above the equator, the whole 
of my travel cannot be compared with the smallest journey 
of Mr. H. M. Stanley, the greatest explorer that ever lived. 
The real interest of my trip, for the public, arises from the 
fact that I have been able to study and compare the chief 



THREli YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

portions of the vast territory between the Cape and the 
Nile, now in the hands of the British, Portuguese, and 
German nations. 

Those who preceded or who followed me into portions 
of the regions that I crossed, have been there either as 
traders, prospectors, missionaries, or administrators ; each 
has seen and judged things from his special point of view, 
and in relation to the particular aim before him. On 
the other hand, I had no financial interest in any of the 
countries I visited, nor was I attached to any religious 
mission, or any executive or administrative department 
of any Government having sovereignty in the districts 
through which I passed. A Frenchman in lands where 
my own country had neither claims to urge nor rivalry 
to fear, I was in a position to form an independent and 
unbiassed opinion. 

My journey was performed at the most interesting 
period of the history of Africa — ^just on the eve, or at 
the beginning of its transformation, while still in a 
primitive state, into European Colonies. To offer to 
the reader a useful book will be my object ; and I will 
endeavour to confine the narration of my personal 
adventures to facts that may be of use to others, in 
enabling them to avoid the mistakes I have made, 
or to assist them with the experience I have gained. 
The preparation of this volume has been necessarily slow, 
inasmuch as it has involved the sifting of larger masses 
of information than will possibly be apparent from the 
mere reading of its pages. Perhaps I may allude to the 
difficulty of writing in a language which, though it has 
become to me a second mother tongue, must needs 
continue to present certain difficulties. Further and 
constant interruptions in the work have occurred. I had 
only been a few months in Europe when I started for 

2 



PREFACE 

Madagascar in connection with the French Expedition to 
that island. Upon my return I was able to bring to light 
the murder of the unfortunate Stokes, and my time was 
fully occupied with collecting evidence of the guilt of 
Major Lothaire, and as I was about to set to work finishing 
the writing of this book, I had to start on a fresh visit to 
the Cape. For assistance in the preparation of the book 
under these difficulties I am much indebted to my friend 
Mr. G. W. Steevens, who has written some of the chapters 
from my notes and seen the whole through the press, and 
to my secretaries, Mr. C. F. Mant and Miss A. Otter. 

I must not close this introduction without addressing 
my deepest and sincerest thanks to all those who helped 
me throughout my journey. My special thanks are due 
to Sir Harry Johnston, K.C.B., not only for generous 
hospitality and advice in Africa, but also for the kindest 
aid in that part of the work which relates to his Adminis- 
tration. Neither must I forget the Right Honourable 
C. J. Rhodes, who granted me special facilities to travel 
on the Cape Railways and in the various portions of 
Rhodesia, where I also received much help and assistance 
from Dr. Jameson. I must also mention Col. Sir Henry 
Colvile, whose guest I was during the whole of my stay 
in Uganda, and who gave me a large number of porters 
with an armed escort of two-score men T;o accompany me 
to the coast. Last, but not least, I must pay a tribute to 
the memory of my poor friend Roddy Owen, whose sad 
death in the Soudan has brought sorrow to so many hearts. 
A most brilliant soldier, one of the bravest men that ever 
lived, he was always a true and loyal friend to me, and the 
memory of the happy time I spent with him during the 
Unyoro war will for ever live in my heart. To mention 
by name all those who have given me their hospitality 
and assistance would take pages ; and I feel bound to 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

acknowledge that it is owing to the help I received 
chiefly from British, and also from Portuguese and 
German officials, traders, and travellers that I managed 
to complete my trip. 

There now remain but a few words for me to add, and 
although it grieves me to say them, I feel bound to do so 
in order to vindicate my character. When I returned to 
Europe after my long journey I was treated with marked 
coldness by my countrymen : the official world had no 
abuse strong enough for me. I had committed the great 
crime of openly expressing my admiration for the British 
Administration in South Africa, Rhodesia, Nyasaland, and 
Uganda, and when I tried to prove that I had merely 
been fair and impartial in my reports, I was told by a 
high official that I had no right to be fair and impartial 
with regard to Anglo-African questions. I need not 
comment upon this startling theory, neither can I help 
comparing the reception given to me in France — my 
own country — with the one I received in England. The 
kindness that was shown me in this country went deep to 
my heart, and increased tenfold the true love I had always 
felt for the British nation, whose dominions have been to 
me a kind of second fatherland ; the only nation where 
individual liberty, broad-minded ideas, and true civilization 
really exist ; a nation that throws its doors wide open to 
all, irrespective of nationality or creed — in a word, the 
greatest nation in the world. And I hope to see the 
day when the union of England and France will be 
an accomplished fact. Allied together we would defy 
the world, and become for ever the arbiters of all nations. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE START 

ON the 24th of April, 1891, I sailed from Dartmouth 
on board the Grantully Castle, and arrived at Cape 
Town in the middle of May. My first impression was most 
disappointing. I expected to find a place resembling 
Bombay or Calcutta ; like them, with plenty of natives 
in picturesque costumes, etc., etc. On landing I got into 
a hansom cab, and on my way to the hotel the only 
native gentlemen I came across who could boast of the 
smallest tinge of the picturesque were those who com- 
posed a detachment of the Salvation Army in full dress. 
I presented my letters of introduction, among them one 
to the Governor, Sir Henry Loch, who received me with 
the greatest possible kindness and courtesy in every way. 
He introduced me to Mr. Cecil Rhodes, then Prime 
Minister, who gave me most valuable introductions to 
the officials of the Chartered Company, After a few 
days I came to the conclusion that natives did not exist 
at Cape Town. Black gentlemen, it is true, were to be 
met with in the grog shops, the headquarters of the 
Salvation Army, and the gaols ; but from an anthropo- 
logical point of view they were but of slight interest, 
and served only to show the result of the devolution 
of a fine savage into a degraded, European-dressing, 
hard-drinking, work-hating, Dutch-speaking, black-looking 
villain : for such is the free-born, dark-skinned citizen 
loafer of the Cape Colony, the proud and respected 
owner of a vote. 

5 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

I soon made up my mind to proceed farther up country 
in order to try and discover genuine natives, and perhaps 
also to try and escape from the too kind and generous 
hospitaHty of the " Cape Towners." So I started for 
Kimberley. The journey from Cape Town to Kimberley 
takes thirty-six hours, across practically a desert covered 
with short yellowish grass, strewn with stones. Every 
now and then the grass is replaced by patches of heather 
— but the stones are everywhere. The whole stretch of 
country is without a drop of water, and consequently 
without a single tree. In the midst of this desert, 
there rise from time to time low ridges of hills as 
naked and arid as the plain itself Here and there are 
stations, round which are grouped a few houses, all having 
a more or less desolate appearance ; and one hails one's 
arrival at Kimberley as a relief from the dreadful monotony 
of travelling for a day and a half in a railway carriage 
through a country so uninteresting and woebegone. 

Kimberley is a striking example of a settlement sprung 
out of speculation. It is partly a camp and partly a city, 
consisting of a few hastily erected shanties side by side 
with splendid and substantial stone buildings. You feel 
that a wave of speculation has been sweeping over the 
country just as a cyclone sweeps over a town ; but, while 
the latter leaves behind a mass of ruins and houseless 
inhabitants, the former throws up a quantity of buildings 
too numerous for the wants of dwellers in the place. 

The entire life of the place has concentrated itself in 
the gigantic undertaking known as the De Beers Mining 
Company, one of the most powerful corporations in the 
world — the gigantic conception of Mr. Rhodes, who, by 
amalgamating all the diamond mines, stopped the fall in 
the prices, regulating the supply by the demand. 

Having decided to start for the interior, I immediately 
set to work to get my equipment ready. Travelling in 
South Africa is very different from a journey in other 
parts of the Great Continent. No large caravan — in fact, 



THE START 

no caravan at all — has to be organized ; the whole of the 
transport is done by huge waggons drawn by sixteen or 
eighteen oxen, and on to which from 5000 to 6000 lbs. 
weight of goods can be piled. First, the buck -waggon, 
a huge and cumbrous machine generally about thirty 
feet long and six or seven across, and divided into two 
parts ; the front open and uncovered, the back for a 
length of about ten feet covered by an awning and 
rising about fifteen feet from the ground. This is the 
sleeping accommodation, and half-way up is a frame 
covered with intertwined strips of raw hide used to support 
a mattress. Covered waggons are smaller and narrower 
than the others, with fixed awnings over their whole 
length, and capable of holding about 4000 lbs. weight of 
goods. To carry loads as transport for business purposes 
buck-waggons are, no doubt, superior; but for the traveller 
or explorer intending to carry out a long trip in the 
interior of South Africa I should strongly advise the use 
of covered waggons — they can be drawn by fewer oxen, 
and can pass under trees that will catch the buck-waggon, 
while they are more comfortable in every way. A slower, 
more uncomfortable, dirtier, and generally more detest- 
able kind of transport it is difficult to imagine. How 
much better to travel by caravan — impossible until one 
is north of the Zambezi. Unfortunately I was induced to 
invest in buck-waggons. The selection of waggons and 
oxen is by no means as simple as would at first appear. 
A list of the small extras that are necessary would cover 
pages ; and, however careful you may be, you will find 
when you are well started that one half of what you 
require has been forgotten. 

The choice of servants is also a very difficult matter. 
Each waggon requires a driver, a leader, a herd boy, a 
cook, a boy to get wood, water, etc. ; and a serv^ant to look 
after your own things. All the natives in Cape Colony 
being " gentlemen," not only ask monstrous wages {£2 to 
£6 per month for drivers, cooks, and servants, and £2 
7 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

to ^3 per month for the others), but have also to be 
supplied with daily rations of wheat, flour, coffee, and 
sugar, and with meat twice a week. Considering that 
such luxuries are not to be found in the veldt, and that 
in such places as Palapshwe and Mashonaland flour costs 
from 6d. to lod. per lb., sugar lod. to is., salt 6d., and 
everything else in proportion, enormous quantities have 
to be carried. The question of provisions is therefore 
a most serious one, and, for a year's journey, tons of 
them have to be bought ; although most people — myself 
included — take a great deal too many. I purchased 
sufficient tinned provisions for six months ; but here I 
made a mistake, as I have since found that it is better 
to take a herd of sheep and goats and some fowls in 
coops. In this way you always have fresh meat, which 
is both more wholesome and more economical than con- 
suming tinned provisions. The sheep and goats travel 
well ; they find their own food, and as they walk behind 
your waggon you are able to save a lot of weight In this 
connection I should like to say what a boon it would 
be to travellers and explorers in the interior if an African 
Society could be formed with branches at Cape Town, 
Zanzibar, Aden, &c., having an information office and 
library where any traveller might be able to consult books 
and maps, and get from some competent official all infor- 
mation as to the district he wished to visit, and learn at 
the same time what trade goods, outfit, and provisions 
he was likely to require for his journey, and where he 
could best get them ; where also he would be informed 
where he would be able to replenish his stores, and be 
put in communication with competent persons. The 
Society might also publish a monthly journal dealing 
especially with Africa, and get its members and those 
possessing information to furnish particulars about their 
routes, discoveries, and other interesting facts ; for Africa 
is of such importance now that even the Royal Geo- 
graphical Society, with its very extended sphere of 



THE START 

action, cannot cope with the continent to the extent it 
deserves. 

But to return to my own arrangements. After having 
purchased ponies and donkeys for the journey, I found 
myself ready to start. 

The railway from Cape Town to Vryburg was then 
completed, and the road between the two places being 
very bad, I was advised to send everything on by train. 
With very pleasant anticipations I took up my quarters 
in one of the best hotels of the place. My first step 




MY WAGGONS. 



towards beginning my journey was to try the oxen in 
the waggons and superintend their loading up. My 
dismay can be imagined when I discovered that, despite 
my large expenditure, an enormous quantity of accessories 
had still to be procured before I should be in a position 
to start. I obtained all these at Vryburg, and on the 
25th June I was ready to start in earnest. 

The waggons, one drawn by eighteen and the other 
by sixteen oxen, proceeded very slowly. A " leader " 
marches at the head of each team, guiding the two front 
beasts by means of a strap of raw hide (reim) attached 
to their horns. The " driver," armed with an immense 
9 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

lash, usually of giraffe hide, fixed to the end of a bamboo 
pole some twelve to fifteen feet long, walks alongside. 
Each ox has a name, corresponding usually to some 
physical peculiarity, and after a little time becomes quite 
familiar with it ; each has also his allotted place in the 
team, into which he drops quite naturally. To start his 
beasts or to urge them to an extra strong pull, the 
driver yells and shrieks in the weirdest manner; to 
stop them he utters only one or two prolonged calls, 
followed by a peculiar whistling sound. 

My first halt was near a pond a few miles from the 
town. A trek of a couple of hours enabled us to reach 
the spot, and near a farm — a kind of hut built of mud 
— I had the oxen outspanned and the ponies hobbled ; the 
donkeys I left at liberty. I had the tent unfurled when a 
storm burst upon us, accompanied by a deluge of rain. I 
fixed the tent as well as I could, and profiting by a lull in 
the storm my men started a fire and prepared their dinner 
of meal boiled in an iron pot. For the first, but, alas ! not 
the last time I sat before a tin of " bouillie-beef," washed 
down with tea. We had hardly finished when the storm 
began anew, worse than ever, my tent threatening to come 
to the ground every minute. Everything was so dark that 
it was impossible to go forward a single step without 
knocking against some stone or tumbling into some hole. 
The flashes of lightning followed one another incessantly, 
illuminating t.he whole horizon ; and the noise was awful. 
I rushed out to see if the waggons were well covered over, 
when to my dismay I saw by the light of a vivid flash that 
the large piece of sailcloth used to cover the waggons and 
their contents was scudding away, leaving all the pack- 
ages to the mercy of the tempest. I called the men 
together, and we set to work to cover the waggons up 
again. The job was a stiff one, as the saturated sails 
weighed tremendously heavy, and over and over again 
were blown out of our hands. The wind and the rain 
extinguished the lanterns, so it was in utter darkness and 



THE START 

not until we had got wet to the skin that we managed 
to fix the wretched things. All night long the rain fell 
in torrents, and my bunk under the awning, although 
covered with one of the sails, let in the water, which 
literally poured over me. I soon found out that the sails 
before being used must be saturated with melted fat, or 
else they let the water through them. I expected to see 
at least three-quarters of the provisions spoilt — the meal 
and flour a paste, the sugar a syrup, and the tobacco a 
pulp. What was my delight then, when the morning came, 
to find that the rain had stopped and that no serious harm 
had been done to the goods. The sugar was a little wet, 
and one or two sacks of meal were slightly damp, but 
nothing had been really spoilt. It was Sunday, June 28th, 
before I started again, the waggon in which I rode leading 
the procession. I had hardly gone a couple of miles when 
news was brought me that my second waggon had got 
stuck. I outspanned my team and started to the assist- 
ance of the waggon, which I found sunk up to the axles 
in sand. The two teams, consisting of thirty-four oxen, 
tugged for more than an hour, but without the slightest 
result. We then tried digging out the wheels with our 
spades, without better success ; there only remained one 
thing to do, and that was to unload the waggon. If it is 
remembered that this means undoing all the ropes, and 
shifting more than 4000 lbs. weight of things on to 
the ground, and then replacing them on the waggon, 
and all this with only eight men to help, it must be 
admitted that such a job was no easy business. However, 
we all lent a hand, and it was only after we had removed 
everything that we succeeded in getting free. We loaded 
up once more and started again, having wasted five hours 
over this incident. I had no time to lose, for night comes 
on very quickly in these parts, and as soon as I came to 
a " vley " (the South African name for a pool), where I 
could water my beasts, I halted. It was icy cold, and 
after a light meal I turned in, fervently praying that I 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

was not destined to have many nights or days Hke my 
first. 

The next day (June 29th) we set off at about 6.30 a.m., 
the pools all round being covered with a thin coating 
of ice. Until 11 o'clock we followed a track strewn with 
enormous stones which knocked the waggons about to 
such a degree that every moment I expected to see them 
go to pieces ; but they stood it in a wonderful way, and 
I began to see what African waggons are capable of. To 
right and left extended an immense plain covered with 
a yellowish grass, dotted here and there with stones, and 
patches of thorny heather — the South African veldt. 

In the morning we caught sight of some "steinboks," 
little gazelles hardly bigger than a dog, but so wild that 
it is impossible to get within four or five hundred yards 
of them. At 1 1 o'clock I came to a farm, Mismifontein, 
where we stopped ; we outspanned so that the beasts 
might feed and drink. The farm, like so many in this 
part of South Africa, consists of a mud hut of two rooms, 
and was occupied by a Dutch farmer and his family of 
nine children. No sign of cultivation : a few cows and 
a dozen fowls and ducks were all the stock that I could 
see. It is hard to realize what these people live upon. But 
there was one comfort about the place. For the first time 
since we left Vryburg I found a well of clear water — a 
real luxury, as we had had nothing to drink but muddy 
stuff for four days. About three o'clock in the afternoon, 
just as I was preparing to start again, a regular shower 
of locusts descended, covering the plain as far as one 
could see, their white wings shining in the sun so as to 
give the effect of a fall of snow. At the distance of 
about a mile from the farm I reached a kind of swamp 
of wet clay. I crossed this morass on my horse, which 
sunk up to its knees, to try and find a firm spot where 
the waggons might pass, but without success. There was 
no choice; I had the two teams attached to the heavier 
waggon, and we drove on as hard as we could. The 
12 



THE START 

first waggon sank a bit but did not actually stop. It had 
almost crossed the bog when one of the oxen yoked to 
the pole fell. His head sank in the mud, leaving but his 
eyes visible, and it was only with the greatest trouble that 
we kept his head up that he should not be suffocated. 
Then the drivers, by means of yells, oaths, and blows, 
succeeded in freeing the waggon ; but all this took a long 
time, and night was fast coming on. The waggon in 
which I rode had not yet crossed, and I returned with 
the oxen to fetch it. When it started, it was still light, 
but in these latitudes there is no dusk, and by the time we 
got to the swamp it was already night. Major, my head 
man, called out to the leader to go right ahead and 
then turn to the right. The leader understood to the 
left, and took the team into the middle of the bog, into 
which the waggon sank four feet or so. The united 
efforts of all the thirty-four oxen could not disengage 
it. My beasts were exhausted, and the men done up. 
It was no use thinking of getting out without unloading 
the cargo, so I decided then, not being able to do anything 
else, to remain there till the next morning. But I was 
dying of hunger, and all the provisions that had been 
broached were in waggon No. 2. By the light of a 
lantern I got down from my waggon ; I had hardly put 
my foot to what I trusted was earth, when I sank up to 
my knees in muck. I remounted my waggon, and stayed 
there caged-up all night. Next morning we had to unload 
the waggon, and so got it free. 

A few evenings after this I perceived a strong light 
on the horizon — the plain was on fire behind us, and the 
wind was blowing the conflagration in our direction. 
Luckily the breeze was slight ; I saddled my horse and 
started with one of the men to ascertain the importance 
of the fire. If I found it near us, the only thing to do 
would be to set light ourselves to the herbage in front 
of us, and walk behind the fire that we had started. On 
our way we perceived two other fires, one to our right and 
13 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

one to our left ; the one at our back, however, commenced 
to die out, and in any event was very far off. So we 
returned to camp having nothing to fear. These fires, 
which are of frequent occurrence in the veldt, are only 
dangerous when the grass is long. Mr. Colenbrander 
once lost all his oxen in one of them, and his waggon 
itself barely escaped destruction. They are usually 
lighted by natives in the hope of improving the grass 
the following year. The evil of the practice is to be found 
in the fact that tracts of land for miles are denuded of 
herbage, leaving nothing to eat for the beasts of transport. 
Natives caught firing grass are very severely dealt with. 

On July 3rd I found my beasts somewhat knocked up 
by the march of the day before, so I determined to give 
them a few hours' rest, and did not start till 4 o'clock in 
the afternoon. Even then I did not get further than 
about six miles, for seeing a transport of four waggons 
sink into the mud about 400 yards ahead of me, I 
determined to halt rather than spend another night in a 
swamp. For two or three days I had had a little 
rheumatic fever, and next morning I woke with every 
joint in my body aching. Sooner or later we were all 
attacked by the fever, more or less. 

On Monday, the 6th July, at about half-past nine a.m., 
we arrived at a rather large farm, comprising one building 
of real bricks. The owner was a most affable Englishman. 
He gave me a large glass of milk, and pointed out a good 
place where I could outspan and water the oxen. This 
was a pleasing contrast to the Dutch farmer, who never 
dreams of offering you anything, nor misses an opportunity 
of trying to extort a few shillings from you for having 
outspanned near his farm ; and if he sells you a dozen 
eggs, for which he charges two or three shillings, he won't 
let you carry them to your waggon, a distance of perhaps 
only a hundred yards, without first having made you pay 
for them ; and even then he won't lend you a dish to carry 
them in. Yet these people are British subjects and 
14 



THE START 

electors, who send representatives to the Colonial Parlia- 
ment, though they have never learnt to speak English, 
and won't even allow their children to be taught English. 
They call themselves Dutchmen, but they hardly know 
where Holland is ; it is enough for them that their 
great grandfathers were born out there : they are them- 
selves " Afrikanders." Their intelligence is dull and 
dry, like the country of their birth. To squeeze their 
neighbour is their sole aim in life, and whether such 
neighbour be English, Dutch, or native, makes no 
difference to them. 

On Thursday, the 9th July, I inspanned at 6.30 a.m. and 
trekked for three hours, believing, from the information 
I had received, that we were ten or twelve miles from 
Mafeking. At 11 o'clock I sent two men on horseback 
to the town, while I determined to remain with the 
waggons. About an hour later several waggons met us, 
and the drivers told us that we were quite near Mafe- 
king. A few minutes later a native on horseback 
informed me that it would take two hours and a half 
to ride to the place, adding that the road was dreadfully 
bad ; and shortly after the driver of a mule cart said we 
were twelve hours from Mafeking, also assuring us that 
the track was terrible. By this time I was so accustomed 
to hear as many different accounts of distances as there 
were people to give them, that I did not pay much 
attention to the stories I was told. All were unani- 
mous, however, as to the state of the road, so I caused the 
wheels to be well greased and all the brakes to be put 
carefully in order. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon I 
determined to go on horseback to Mafeking, whatever 
the distance might be. After riding about two miles I 
came to a post-house, where I was told that Mafeking 
was 16 miles off, and that from this point to the town 
there was no water. I left word for my head man to halt 
at this station, and to start next day at sunrise. I galloped 
on for a couple of hours, crossed an enormous bog in the 
15 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

dark, and arrived about 7.30, absolutely frozen and dying 
of hunger, at Mafeking. I had a good dinner at Isaac's 
Hotel, and I went to sleep in a good bed. At 2 o'clock 
next afternoon a messenger sent by my head man arrived 
with the news that the waggons were about two hours 
from Mafeking, on the other side of the swamp. An 
hour later I was in the saddle on the way to meet them, 
and I joined them just as my men were about to inspan. 
The two teams were joined and the first waggon started ; 
the oxen crossed the bog sinking to their bellies. 
The waggon sank to the axles, but moved on notwith- 
standing. The front wheels had nearly reached the 
other side — one more pull and it would have been safely 
across — when, as always happens at a critical moment, 
one of the " skeys " (thick pieces of wood placed on either 
side of the animal's head and driven into the yoke) 
broke. We had to 'change it, and then, whipping up the 
oxen to the shouts of the drivers, the waggon moved. I 
thought the difficulty had been conquered, but the wheels 
had hardly made half a revolution when the chain broke. 
After much trouble we repaired it. Again the animals were 
whipped, again the drivers howled, again the beasts gave 
a strong pull — and the chain broke again. Three times 
did this occur. Meanwhile, four waggons which had been 
following us tried to cross at another spot, and after 
having broken their chains four times succeeded in 
getting across with the help of my teams. When, 
however, I asked the drivers to help me in their turn, they 
only consented to do so upon my paying them £i. 
Needless to add that they were Boers. I was perfectly 
frozen, and as the waggons could not possibly reach 
Mafeking that evening I started alone in the dark. But 
I had not come to the end of my bad luck. Stopping 
a moment to light a cigar I dropped the reins on my 
horse's neck ; the beast was frightened at the noise made 
by striking the match, and bolted into the veldt before 
I could catch the reins up again. I lost the track, 
16 



THE START 

and it was only after wandering about for two hours that 
I reached the river, which I was obHged to follow for 
quite two miles before I found the ford. After having 
again wandered about for some time I reached Mafeking, 
dead beat. 

Mafeking, the last settlement in British Bechuanaland, 
was even then one of the most important stations 
of this part of Africa. The " town " consisted of a big 
open place called the " Market Square," round which 




A SOUTH-AFRICAN STORE. 



were grouped a few buildings, mostly of corrugated iron. 
Two hotels, five or six stores, a barber, a butcher, and 
a baker composed the commercial part of the place. One 
building standing by itself contained the law court, the 
Post, and the Government offices. Add to this a church 
and a few private houses, where the clergyman, the magis- 
trate, and the doctor lived, and you have Mafeking as it 
was in 1891. About three-quarters of a mile off is a. big 
native village, Mafeking owes its origin to the expedition 
of Sir Charles Warren, who established his headquarters 
there. It is from Mafeking that the greater part of the 
c 17 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

goods destined for the interior is expedited. The railway 
now runs from Vryburg to this place and much further ; 
but at this time goods came by rail to Vryburg, and 
thence by waggon to Mafeking, where most of the 
transport contractors of the South used to stop. Others 
did the service from Mafeking to Tuli. Most of the 
trade between Mafeking and Mashonaland was then, and 
still is, in the hands of Messrs. Julius Weil & Co., most 
enterprising merchants who have rendered great services 
towards the opening out of Bechuanaland. 

For three days I remained at Mafeking, devoting the 
time to cleaning up and to doing certain necessary repairs 
to the waggons. On the fourth day (July 14th) I started 
again. From this point I organized our 'treks" in African 
fashion. We used to travel from five o'clock in the 
afternoon till nine at night ; we then rested till two in 
the morning, when we would go forward again until six 
or seven, when a halt was called till five in the afternoon. 
In this manner our beasts had ample time to drink, feed, 
and rest, and also avoided the great heat of the day. 
This arrangement, though all very well for the animals, 
was for us a veritable torture. It was impossible to sleep 
while the waggons were moving. I was continually 
pitched from one side of the affair to the other, and it 
was only by the greatest care that I could prevent myself 
from breaking my head against the sides of the waggon. 
The thing creaked the whole time : I could even feel it 
yield and bend, yet it resisted in a wonderful manner. 

From Baldapits, where we arrived on the 17th of July, 
the country changes entirely in appearance. There are 
quantities of trees, and hills of a respectable height, instead 
of the arid plains that we had hitherto traversed. 
Nothing is more tiring to the sight and depressing to 
the spirits than those limitless plains for days and weeks 
at a stretch. The tops of the hills are yellowish, and 
dotted here and there with patches of bush, just like an 
African's head with its short bunches of crinkly hair. 



THE START 

On the i8th July we reached Aasvogel Kop; and here 
the country is very picturesque. In the west rose a 
mountain with rocky sides towering high above us : 
in the east another less lofty, and about two miles away ; 
other hills were dimly discernible in the south. The valley 
in which we pitched our camp consists of a beautiful 
lawn, dotted here and there with trees. In fact, it was 
the first picturesque country we had come across since 
our start. We devoted our day to shooting, but, with the 
exception of a few partridges, we saw no game. At half- 
past four we were off again. The road was very bad : 
one moment our waggons would go over some big stone, 
and the next fall into a rut. The dust was blinding, for 
the soil is red sand, into which they sank to some 
depth. The previous night had been fairly mild, and, for 
the first time, we were not frozen ; in fact, the weather 
altogether was warmer than we had before experienced. 

Next day we arrived, at last, at a spot full of real 
African life and colour. Ramootsa was its name— a big- 
native village of nearly 12,000 souls. The inhabi- 
tants form part of the tribe of the Bamalati, under the 
chief Ikaneng, son of Magholi. The village is composed 
of thatch -covered huts, enclosed by a strong wooden 
stockade. The Bamalati are of a deep bronze colour. 
Their costume consists, in the main, of a grey felt hat 
of European manufacture, trimmed with feathers. Their 
bodies are covered with skins of various animals fixed 
to the left shoulder, and they wear sandals attached in 
Japanese fashion. The women wear the upper part of 
the body naked. They are dressed in either a kilted 
skirt falling to the heels, or some skin bound round the 
middle. A few of them, however, cover the breast with 
a piece of calico, fixed round the neck and falling down 
to the waist. Their heads are bare, or covered with 
ochre ; some wear a simple bandage on the fore- 
head. The hair is worn short. For ornaments they 



i 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

of copper wire, whilst from one or two to as many as 
twenty-four rings of copper wire are worn below the knee. 
The feet are quite bare. Some are tattooed on the face 
and some on the arms. These tattooings represent tribal 
marks. 

The next morning, accompanied by the telegraph clerk, 
who acted as interpreter, I paid a visit to the chief 
Ikaneng. I had to thread my way through a maze of 
lanes, all of which, strange to say, seemed to lead into 
other lanes inside, forming a regular labyrinth ; but 
probably this was so arranged to facilitate the defence 
of the place in case of attack. We arrived at a kind 
of square, and my guide pointed out the chiefs hut. 
It seemed to me to differ neither in height nor size 
from any of the others, but near it was a clear space 
of four or five yards roofed over with branches. This 
is called the lekothla : here the chief shows himself, 
receives visitors, and administers justice. Ikaneng was 
seated on a chair under the lekothla. He was a fine 
man, powerfully built, at least six feet high, jet black, 
and wearing a full grey beard — this last a very rare 
adornment among natives. Although over sixty-five years 
old, he looked hardly more than fifty. He had on a suit 
of greyish check clothes, flannel shirt, yellow shoes of 
untanned hide (veldshoons) and woollen socks. A broad- 
brimmed grey felt hat completed his costume. The only 
piece of jewellery that he displayed was a gold watch 
and chain. He was seated on a low chair, holding in 
his hand a stick, or rather wand, of steel, about a yard 
and a half long, at the extremity of which was fixed an 
old brass door-handle. When we approached he stretched 
out his hand. I did likewise, and he held mine in his 
for some seconds. He signed to us to sit down on seats 
in front of him, and my guide explained that he had 
sent for his interpreter, as he did not know a word of 
either English or Dutch. While we were waiting, I 
examined the natives surrounding him. There were 
20 



THE START 

half a dozen of them all seated or crouched outside the 
lekothla. The most striking in appearance was a tooth- 
less old chap with a wrinkled face. He was quite naked 
with the exception of a narrow cloth about his middle, 
and a blanket thrown over his shoulders. Round his 
neck was a strap, to which were suspended half a dozen 
leather sheaths, which contained knives, scissors, and 
the like. He was the local witch-doctor. The rest 
were a lot of old men, who seemed fast asleep. At 
length the interpreter arrived, and my guide commenced 
by explaining in Dutch that I had been sent by the 
French Government to study the people of the country. 
Unfortunately the chief could not be made to under- 
stand what or where France was. Then my guide 
stated that the Governor of the Cape, Sir Henry Loch, 
had given me letters of introduction. " Sir Henry 
Loch," " the Cape," " Governor " : neither the chief 
nor the interpreter seemed to understand what all this 
meant, though Sir Henry was at that moment Governor 
of Bechuanaland. At last my guide explained that the 
Government had furnished me with letters of introduction 
to the officials of the country. The chief thought there 
was one for him, and insisted on having it. Did I come 
from the Government ? " No," my guide replied ; I had 
come to ask permission to take his portrait. " Well," said 
the chief, " you are nothing but humbugs. First you say 
' Government,' then you say, ' Not from the Government.' 
Bring me a letter from Sir Sidney Shippard, and I will 
do anything you require." It was not the slightest use 
persuading or insisting. My guide told me that the chief 
was a most obstinate man, and always worse when he was 
in a bad temper. So I took my leave without having 
succeeded in photographing him. He shook me most 
cordially by the hand, and I retired. Next morning (July 
20th) I arrived at Gaberones, about ninety miles from 
Mafeking, a native village of considerable size, under the 
rule of the chief Linchw-se, whose capital is at Mochudi. 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

I passed the day in the company of Lieutenant Whight, 
who commanded the police camp estabhshed there. The 
camp consisted of a long alley edged with mud-plastered 
huts, and roofed over with branches and thatch. 

The way in which the natives construct these huts 
deserves a special mention. A certain number of 
branches about the thickness of a man's arm and about 
six feet in length are piled up on the ground. Without 
the assistance of any cord to trace it, a man plants these 
posts one after the other in the ground in a perfect 
circle. Four boards, leaving a square hole of about 
eighteen inches, are fixed to one of the sides of the 
round part so as to furnish a window. Unlopped branches 
are arranged in the shape of a funnel to form the roof, 
and tied together at their extremities, while half-way down 
they are attached one to the other by strips of bark. A 
sort of mortar, composed of sand and cow-dung, is then 
laid thickly on the posts planted in a circle, resulting 
in a wall of about nine or ten inches thick. The roof is 
then covered with a thatch made from blades of grass 
about a yard to a yard and a half long, commencing from 
the bottom and tapering off gradually to the top. A 
trellis of reeds forms the door, which is very low, not 
rising above four or five feet from the ground. At the 
end of this double row of huts a small fort was erected. 

That evening the town was en fete. From my waggon 
I could hear the sounds of singing and the beating of 
tom-toms, long monotonous chants interspersed with 
yells, followed at intervals by a kind of strident cry 
interrupted by applying the hand to the mouth. I got 
near the part from whence this noise proceeded, and 
after endless turning among the huts I thought I had 
attained my object, for on the other side of a thick 
hedge the concert was being held. I followed this hedge, 
but in vain, for on all sides the ring whence proceeded 
the singing was enclosed by thick, high branches, through 
which it was impossible to see anything. I got near the 

22 



THE START 

hedge and tried to pull myself up by means of a big 
branch, in order, by looking over the top, to see what 
was going on on the other, side. I was just mounting 
when two natives rushed on me and seized me from 
behind. They were in a tremendous state of excitement, 
gesticulating and uttering cries, none of which, of course, 
I was able to understand. They then addressed them- 
selves to my head man, who had accompanied me, and 
explained to him that a festival of young girls was 
taking place, from which all males were rigorously ex- 
cluded. This was a breach of etiquette indeed ; but I 
charged my man to assure them that I had no desire to 
infringe their rules, and having thus appeased them, I 
was invited to enter one of the huts, where I found a 
number of other natives seated round a fire. I gave them 
sixpence with which to buy some native beer, and we 
became the best of friends. 

The following evening (July 21st) I left Gaberones, 
intending to make for the Marico river. The road was 
excellent, and having started at six o'clock, I did not 
outspan until ten. From Gaberones to Palla camp I 
had the choice of three routes. The most interesting was 
by Mochudi, the capital of the chief Linchwee. This road, 
however, was unfortunately very bad and almost without 
water the whole of the way. But for this consideration 
I should have followed it, since Lieutenant Whight 
informed me that about four miles from Mochudi there 
is an immense stone covered with fossilized impressions 
of the greatest interest : traces of human feet of colossal 
dimensions, and of the feet of certain animals differing 
entirely from those we know at the present time. I 
think it only right to refer to this, for the information of 
any future travellers in these districts. Following the 
advice given to me I chose the road along the Marico 
river. 

On the 23rd of July I reached John's Staadt on the 
river Marico. The town consists of a number of 
23 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

" locations " of about twenty huts apiece, some distance 
apart from one another. I started with my photographic 
apparatus for one of these villages. When I came inside 
it, I noticed a native of a quite different type to any I 
had hitherto come across. His skin was as black as 
ebony, and he was very muscular. His look was most 
intelligent, and he was very quick in his movements and 
exuberant in gesture. At the moment of my arrival 
he had just lighted a "dakka" (Indian hemp) pipe. 
This pipe consists of a horn filled with water. Into the 
water descends a wooden tube surmounted by a clay bowl 
in which the tobacco is placed. By applying his hands 
to the opening of the horn, leaving but a small interstice 
whereto to apply his lips so as to inhale the smoke after it 
had passed through the water, he filled his lungs with 
smoke, which he inhaled with all his might and main in a 
most laughable manner ; then throwing back his head and 
showing his eyes all bloodshot, he puffed out the smoke 
from his mouth, coughing, gasping, almost suffocated — 
but triumphant. But hardly had the cough stopped when 
he began again, even more violently than before. After 
five or six repetitions he stopped to take breath. The 
most curious part of the performance was that each 
time that he stopped to take breath he commenced 
spitting. Yet etiquette requires that this should be done 
with great ceremony through a tube of straw. I must add 
that the practice of smoking Indian hemp is followed by 
most deplorable results. It produces at the time a 
drunken excitement, followed by stupor, and those much 
addicted to it soon suffer from regular delirium tremens. 
The custom is found in every part of Africa I have visited. 
The fellow was absolutely naked with the exception of a 
narrow leather girdle, from which hung in front three wild 
cats' skins with a single skin behind. Round his neck he 
wore an amulet, consisting of a bit of lizard skin forming 
a little bag of about an inch square ; the object of this, 
he sweetly informed my servant, was to make girls 
24 



i 



THE START 

love him. With most expressive and inteUigible signs 
he gave me to understand that he did not belong to that 
part of the country, but that he was a Matabele — a bath- 
servant of King Lobengula — escaped a few months 
previously because Lobengula wished to put him to 
death. According to his story, one of the king's wives 
was one day in her hut about to take her bath, and called 
one of the men-servants to assist her. Khantura (this 
was the name of our gentleman) ventured to remark to 
Mrs.. Lo Ben that she ought to be ashamed of herself to 
call a man to help her take her bath instead of sum- 
moning one of her women. Of course the lady complained 
to the King, her husband. Lobengula called Khantura 
before him, who openly declared that the lady was the 
mistress of the other attendant ; whereupon the King 
ordered him to be executed. Khantura, however, after 
receiving a violent blow from a knobkerry on the back 
of the head, was left for dead, but recovered and managed 
to escape to John's Staadt, in the British Protectorate ; 
and although the King had since then frequently sent 
word to him that he had pardoned him, and that he 
wished him to return, he knew his master too well to 
trust him. 

I asked him if he would like me to take his portrait. 
He accepted with delight, and led me inside the village 
to the court- yard of a hut, where about thirty men, 
women, and children were assembled. The men were 
squatting round an immense earthen vessel containing 
Kafir beer, and received us in the most cordial manner. 
Soon after they put their pots aside, and commenced 
to dance, shrieking and brandishing their clubs about in 
a most terrific manner. Their dance consists of one 
long slow step forward with one foot, while they strike 
the ground heavily with the heel of the other, singing 
all the time in slow monotonous rhythm, interrupted by 
formidable shouts. There was no instrumental accom- 
paniment. While this was going on I was preparing 
25 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

my apparatus, and when it was ready I asked per- 
mission to photograph them. They did not understand. 
All the same they showed no fear, as the natives of 
other villages had done. Shortly afterwards a number 
of children came round me— a little mite of about five 
years old caught hold of my hand, and after having 
examined and felt it, caressed it. I caught hold of his 
chin, turning up his face to mine, on which he smiled. 

This was the first time I had seen native children so 
tame ; generally when you approach them they run 
away, uttering cries like those of a young monkey when 
you take him in your hand. I called one of the men, 
and told him to look into the camera. He was as- 
tounded and delighted, and made the others come. Then 
men, women, and children impatiently waited their turn 
to look on the piece of ground glass. But they did not 
push. They took the greatest care not to upset the 
apparatus, and although more or less drunk, they were 
all gracious, affable, and attentive. In short, I passed 
two most interesting hours in their midst. 

In this place the huts differed from those we had 
hitherto come across. Their dimensions are about the 
same, but they are in the shape of a huge beehive ; the 
thatch is much neater, and kept together by strips of 
bark about four inches apart. The spaces also in front 
of each hut are oblong instead of round. The ornaments 
of the people are also different. Some of the women 
wear massive thick copper necklets. Men and women 
wear necklaces of blue and white beads interspersed at 
intervals by three brass buttons. In the ears three iron 
wires are frequent, and some of the children wear a 
piece of wood a little more than an inch in length. 
As in other tribes the babies are carried about by children 
of eight or ten years old, pickaback, and supported by 
a skin attached to the shoulders and round the waist. 
Huts are of bee-hive shape, very similar to those of the 
Wahha. 

26 



THE START 

From this . point I had to follow the Marico river, 
and then the Limpopo or Crocodile up to its junction 
with the Notwani. As I proceeded, the aspect of the 
country greatly changed. As the Marico widens, the belt 
of trees by which it is bordered becomes broader and 
the vegetation more abundant, the whole plain being 
covered with brushwood. The Crocodile, at the point 
where the Marico joins it, is more than two hundred 
yards across, and very rapid. It runs at the bottom 
of a ravine, which it quite fills in the rainy season. 
You can see the marks of its highest level on the banks, 
about sixteen feet from its actual level. It is fairly 
abundant in fish, but it is impossible to procure specimens 
without a boat. It is infested with crocodiles. 



27 



CHAPTER II. 

KHAMA 

AFTER passing the picturesque valley of Sofala, to 
our great relief, at last we caught sight of the 
Palapshwe Hills. My oxen had greatly suffered from 
their journey. The previous rainy season had been one of 
the worst for many years, and scarcely any rain had fallen, 
so that the grass was already dried up, and was hardly 
sufficient to nourish the animals. To give them a rest 
before setting out on my long journey across the desert 
was a necessity. On the other hand, I had been warned 
against the demoralizing influence over the men of a stay 
of several weeks in a large centre, and especially in one 
like Palapshwe, which was well known for its immorality, 
so that I had to consider whether I would camp in the 
town itself or outside. 

I therefore decided to ride there and see the place 
before making up my mind. The town is built on the 
side of a hill, the top of which forms a plateau, over which 
rises a range of high and well-wooded hills. 

I had to follow for several miles a large plain covered 
with deep sand into which my horse sank nearly a foot 
deep, before I reached the base of the hill. Thence I 
had to pick my way among a mass of huge boulders 
strewn all over the place. So bad, so impassable did the 
place look that I thought that I must have mistaken the 
road. I was thinking of turning back when I came across 
some natives, each carrying a Bible in one hand and a gun 
in the other. In vain I asked them where Palapshwe was 



k 



KHAMA 

— they did not seem to understand;* when fortunately 
there appeared a mounted policeman of the Bechuanaland 
Border Police, and he informed me that I was on the 
right road (?). How my waggons were to pass over this 
mass of rocks I could not make out. 

At last I reached a few huts, and found myself on flat 
ground, where heavy sand succeeded the stones. Catching 
sight of a corrugated iron roof I started at a canter, but 




KHAMA S PEOPLE, 



my horse, tired out, stumbled and rolled heavily over 
me. I picked myself up with mouth, nose, eyes, and ears 
full of sand, my chin, nose, and forehead torn to bits, and 
feeling considerably dazed. 

On the threshold of a hut sat a native perusing a Bible, 
who interrupted his reading to have a good laugh over my 
accident ; but when I asked him for water to wash my 
damaged face, he replied in a Christian spirit and broken 
English, " Yes, you give shilling." 

I washed as well as I could, and went on my way. 

* The name of Palapshwe is unknown to the natives, Khama's capital being 
known to them by the name of Mangwato. 
29 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

I soon reached the store of the Bechuanaland Trading 
Association, but was informed by a boy that the master 
was asleep. However, the manager soon appeared, and 
having read Mr. Rhodes' letter of introduction, he offered 
me food and refreshment. I explained to him my plans, 
and he advised my taking up my quarters in the town, 
and showed me the outspanning place. Taking every- 
thing into consideration, I decided to follow his advice. 
It was necessary that I should be among the natives to be 
able to study them, and access to the place is so 
difficult that camping at the foot of the hill was out 
of the question. 

I rode back to my waggons. It was with great 
difficulty that the oxen had managed to drag the waggons 
through the heavy sand as far as the Lechaneng Vley 
at the foot of the hill. The next morning I anxiously 
watched their progress over the mass of boulders leading 
to the town. Every minute I thought the whole concern 
would go to pieces, the wheels going over the boulders 
and then dropping heavily down on the other side. 
Sometimes the whole waggon was standing on two 
wheels with the others lifted up in the air as if about 
to capsize, but although at an angle of nearly forty 
degrees the waggon did not tumble. At times they 
were shaken all over, squeaking and trembling like a 
living creature. At last, sick of the sight of the falling 
oxen, the waggons threatening to break to pieces, I rode 
ahead to choose a camping place. 

Half an hour later the waggons arrived, mine minus 
its awning, which had been torn away by the projecting 
branch of a tree. Hundreds of waggons have to pass 
this place — many have met with the same misfortune — 
but not one of the drivers who has gone by has ever 
thought of cutting this branch down. I have seen many 
a place of the same kind in South Africa ; either it is a 
branch that carries away the awning of a waggon, or a 
tree against which all the waggons will bang themselves, 
30 



i 




^^^^^M^mm^M 



KHAMA, CHIEF OF THE 



KAMA\G\VATO. 



KHAMA 

doing great damage. The accident over, the drivers 
deplore it and go on. Time after time they will pass 
the same spot, meet with the same accident, spend a 
lot £)f time in repairing its consequences ; but they would 
not dream of exerting themselves for five minutes in 
order to remove the cause, and so save others, or even 
themselves on their return journey. 

We outspanned near a tree at the " outspan," where all 
waggons go. This " outspan " is on a large open space 
some ten acres in extent, covered with grass. On one 
side at the foot of the hills stands a forge, erected by a 
Scotchman, doing a large business. Next to this place 
are stores belonging to the Bechuanaland Trading 
Association. The centre is a swamp, and on the other 
side begins the native town. In the middle of this 
swamp numerous holes have been dug. In these the 
natives come and wash their clothes, their domestic 
utensils, and themselves. Cattle, horses, donkeys, and 
goats feed on the grass. Still nearer to the native huts, 
holes to the depth of twelve feet are dug, in which 
refuse is thrown. The water rises at the bottom of 
these holes, and the whole of such refuse and filth is 
carried, by means of infiltration, to lower down the 
village, whence the people fetch their drinking water. 

Now, if one considers that 15,000 people throw their 
refuse near their drinking water, it is easy to understand 
how constantly epidemics rage in Palapshwe. When I 
was there over forty people were dying daily of fever — 
typhoid evidently, but it never came into Khama's head 
to get a doctor to reside among his people. The place 
was reputed one of the worst for horse sickness, and 
hundreds of oxen were carried away by lung disease. 
Add to that that the flesh of these dead animals was 
consumed by the natives, and offered for sale to the 
white men, and you will understand how reluctantly I 
took up my quarters there. 

Palapshwe, or Mangwato, as the natives call it, is the 
D 33 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

residence of the Ba-mangwato, the most important of 
the Ba-kuana tribes, and is ruled by the chief Khama. 
So much attention has been directed to him and his people 
of late years, that a detailed description is necessary. The 
Ba-kuana, or Bechuana, tribes are closely allied by physical 
appearance, language, and customs to the Ba-suto ; 
agriculture and cattle-raising is their chief pursuit, and 
they possess some of the warlike spirit of the Zulu, to 
whom, however, physically and intellectually, they are very 
inferior. The Ba-mangwato are the most northern of the 
Ba-kuana tribes ; they consist of 1 5,000 to 20,000 individuals, 
nearly all of them huddled up together in a huge village. 
Their chief, Khama, is nominally the ruler of the huge 
tract of country south and west of Matabeleland ; but this 
territory of nearly 175,000 square miles consists almost 
exclusively of arid, waterless, uninhabited desert — the 
Kalahari. Until a few years ago Khama and his people 
were settled at Shoshong, a hundred miles west of the 
Crocodile river; but one day the chief took it into his 
head that the place was unsuitable, and all his people had 
to follow him up to Palapshwe. 

I will now endeavour to sketch their ruler. Khama 
has always been described as the Christian King of 
Africa, and given as a model of what the civilizing 
influence of Christianity can make of a black savage. 
I can scarcely say that the result is very encouraging. 

From his youth Khama got under the influence of the 
missionaries ; the teaching of one of them, well known 
for his meddling in politics, was not lost on the young 
savage. Self-asserting, intensely fond of power, the boy 
seized the first pretext to break out in open rebellion 
against his father. Circumcision is practised among all 
the Ba-kuana ; but when the time for the performance 
of this ceremony arrived, young Khama, incited thereto 
by his religious teacher, declined to submit to it. 
Although still a boy, he collected around him a number 
of followers dissatisfied with his father's rule, and 
34 



KHAMA 

successfully waged war against him. Soon after this, to 
convert all his followers to the Christian faith became his 
chief ambition ; but having been taught that the great 
Queen Victoria was the head of the Anglican Church, 
he decided to become the head of the Mangwatan 
Church. He began by personally holding weekly services, 
then daily ones, preaching his own sermons. Then, having 
heard that teetotallers were certain to go to heaven, he 
decided that all his people should become abstainers. He 
forbade the brewing of " joala " — native beer, or rather 
sour porridge. At first sight this appears a wise and 
most commendable decision ; but it must be remembered 
that this beverage, intoxicating when consumed in 
enormous quantities, is perfectly harmless in moderation, 
and really forms the only food of aged people. To 
enforce this law the chief organized a most elaborate 
system of espionage ; the offenders were expelled the 
country, and their goods confiscated, a portion of them 
being given to the informer. 

So elaborate is this system of espionage that no native 
is allowed to leave on a journey alone, and two men, at 
least, are always sent out together ; everyone fears his 
neighbour in Khama's country. 

The occupation of Mashonaland by the Chartered 
Company brought Palapshwe into enormous importance, 
as it is situated on the road from Mafeking to Macloutsie, 
and money soon began to flow into the place. 

To build a cathedral now became Khama's great 
ambition : he subscribed i^3000, and all his people had to 
contribute to the fund. Unfortunately the cathedral 
became a source of Homeric quarrels between Khama and 
his moral adviser, the Rev. Mr. Hepburn, who had been in 
Palapshwe for nearly twenty years. The whole thing 
resulted in a violent contest, and Khama purely and 
simply turned his old friend out of the country at a 
day's notice, refusing even to allow him to return to 
collect his property. Khama's professions of loyalty to 
35 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

the British Government, his having asked to be placed 
under British protection — chiefly in order to be protected 
against the Matabele — made him a kind of spoilt child 
whose whims were humoured in every way. His personal 
importance grew daily in his own eyes. 

When, however, it became necessary to place a magis- 
trate in the district the chief began to fret. He could 
not or would not realize that he had to submit to British 
laws, and when it became rumoured that the Chartered 
Company was going to take over the country, his wrath 
knew no bounds. At the bottom of his heart Khama 
hates white men, and since his visit to England, where 
he was treated like a great man, probably despises them 
also. 

To give an idea of Khama's attitude towards white men 
I shall anticipate my narrative a little and give an instance 
of what happened between the Resident Magistrate, 
myself, and him. When I returned from the Zambezi 
the young Basuto boy who had accompanied me there 
was suffering from very bad rheumatic fever, and was 
unable to go to Matabeleland. I left him in charge 
of one of Khama's men, who undertook to take care of 
him upon being paid five shillings a week. When I 
returned to Palapshwe this native came to me and said 
that the boy was dead. At the same time he claimed 
fifteen weeks' payment for the keep of the boy and one 
pound for funeral expenses. " But," I said, " how do I 
know that the boy died when you tell me, and what are 
these funeral expenses?" 

"Well, master, no one would help me to bury the 
boy, as he was a stranger, and as to the date of his death 
you can ascertain it by asking Khama." 

I asked the man if he had reported the death to the 
English magistrate, but he replied in the negative. I 
therefore declined to pay what he asked for. The next 
morning Khama came to my waggon. I bade him good 
morning, and he opened the conversation by saying that 
36 



KHAMA 

he wanted me to pay at once the amount claimed by his 
man. 

" Look here, Khama," I replied, " how is it that the 
boy's death has not been reported to the magistrate? He 
was a British subject from Kimberley, and I must have 
a certificate of his death." 

" The man reported his death to me," said Khama, 
" and that 's enough." 

" No, my friend ; the magistrate is here to administer 
the law, and he alone can give a death certificate. 
Besides, I do not understand you when you come and 
say that you want me to pay your man at once ; you 
are the chief of the Bamangwato, but the magistrate 
is the chief of the White Men, and I do not recognize 
your right to give me orders." 

' The magistrate," said Khama ; " what is that to me ? 
If you won't pay I will prevent you from going away." 

" You had better not try this game, Khama, for I would 
then prove to you that the magistrate is here to administer 
the law." 

Khama rose in great rage and went away. 

Two days later Mr. Moffat, the Commissioner, returned 
to Palapshwe during the night. Early in the morning 
Khama again came to me. 

" I want you to come with me to Mr. Moffat at once," 
he said. 

" What," I replied, " are you now Mr. Moffat's orderly ? 
Has Mr. Moffat sent you to me? If so, where is his 
letter ? " 

" What do you mean ? " said the wily chief 

" I mean that if Mr. Moffat wishes to see me he will 
write to me ; but as I told you before, I have no orders 
to receive from you." 

" So you decline to come to Mr. Moffat ? " 

"Yes." 

" Very well " — and Khama rose, trembling with rage. 

After breakfast I called on Mr. Moffat and explained 
37 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

the case to him. He said that he would at once send 
for Khama. Soon after the latter came and was 
reprimanded by Mr. Moffat for not having reported the 
boy's death to the magistrate. Then Mr. Moffat asked 
me what claim the chief was making. I told him. 
" Why," said Mr. Moffat, " it is preposterous. Give me 
two pounds for the man ; that is more than ample." 
Khama was much dissatisfied with the turn things had 
taken, and left me with a look of contempt. That was 
the only time Khama ever looked me in the face. 



38 



CHAPTER III. 

ACROSS THE DESERT 

ON the 30th August I determined to leave Palapshwe. 
My original idea had been to go straight to 
Mashonaland, chiefly in order to visit the Zimbabwe 
ruins; but having learnt that Mr. Bent, the well-known 
archaeologist, was himself carrying out some important 
researches there, I concluded it would be a waste of 
time, and determined to make for the Zambezi. My 
prolonged stay at Palapshwe had for its chief object to 
give the oxen a rest, but the delay had done them 
little good. They were in a dreadful condition — thin, 
weak, and in some instances with their bones showing 
through their skin. I had to replace many of them 
by fresh ones at the cost of £8 per head. As I feared 
would be the case, Palapshwe had also a very demoralizing 
influence upon the men ; women and dissipation had done 
their usual work, and when I announced my intention 
to start there was an immense amount of grumbling. 
The boys insisted upon a large increase of wages, 
declaring that they were not going to travel in a country 
of which they knew nothing, and where they were sure 
to be either eaten by lions or drop from fever. In short, 
of all my original followers but two remained faithful 
— my head man, Major, and his nephew Joseph, both 
Basuto, in whom up to then I had rightly placed the 
utmost confidence. I had to engage fresh drivers, leaders, 
and cooks. 

I was warned of the great difficulties that awaited me 
39 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

on the road to the Zambezi, and from all I heard I was 
terribly afraid that I should not be able to reach the river 
by the end of the year. My fears were greatly accentu- 
ated by the state of my oxen, and at one moment I was 
almost tempted to give up my plan. Ultimately I made 
up my mind to try, and on the 2nd of September I made 
a start. It was necessary to retrace my steps over the 
terrible piece of road to Lechaneng Vley that I have 
already described, a distance of about six miles, at the 
end of which we outspanned. Here already I could see 
that the oxen were done up, and on their last legs. From 
Lechaneng I proceeded for a couple of days, without any 
incident worth noting ; our pace was desperately slow. 
It was curious to observe the gross blunders that all the 
maps of this part of Africa contained. Rivers, mountains, 
and stations are put down anyhow ; as for the roads 
marked, most of them existed only in the imagination. 
For want of a sextant it was impossible to ascertain our 
exact position, but I did my best to correct the most 
glaring mistakes. The road all this time was very sandy 
and heavy. I observed a temperature of 96 degrees at 
noon, and 57 at ten o'clock at night. 

On September 5th the heat was intense, the temperature 
at noon being 105 degrees under the tent. Spring began 
to show signs of appearance, the trees and flowers be- 
ginning to put forth much brighter hues. The road com- 
menced to be a little better, and the sand was not quite so 
plentiful, but the aspect of the country remained quite 
flat, dotted only here and there with small trees. For two 
days we had had no drinking water — the little we found 
had an awful bitter* taste, and was only fit for the 
oxen. Added to this, flies of all descriptions — common 
flies, wasps, bees, bluebottles, daddy-longlegs, minute 
flies with red eyes, which sting even through your clothes, 
surrounded and followed us in myriads, making a terrible 
noise and never leaving us at rest for a moment. I 
was in a state of dirtiness impossible to describe, covered 
40 



ACROSS THE DESERT 

with a thick layer of black dust, and unfortunately too 
short of water to dare to wash myself The next day, 
September 6th, we reached the foot of Mount Tshaneng, 
having trekked for ten hours, and covered a distance of 
about twenty-two miles. It was absolutely necessary to 
do this that we might reach a place where we could water 
our beasts. Here we found a small clear stream, and at 
last I was able to wash myself, and take a much-needed 




[N KHAMA S COUNTRY, 



bath. Only those who have done this when they were in 
a state like I was then, know the meaning of the word 
" luxury." 

On the Thursday, the loth September, we reached a 
small river, Metsi Moshu (white water). The road for 
some time had been getting more and more difficult, and 
at certain places there was none at all. The waggons were 
always sinking in the black sand, and we were forced 
continually to harness two " spans " to one waggon, and 
then go back and fetch the other. 

The river runs over a bed of enormous sandstone rocks, 
the water being limpid and excellent. But fording this 
41 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

river is most troublesome to the waggons, which are 
compelled to desctnd a deep and very steep ravine over 
enormous stones. At one point one of the waggons, while 
passing over one of these rocks, dropped down a depth of 
nearly four feet, and the shock broke one of the sides in two. 
Luckily the iron braces kept the pieces together, other- 
wise I do not know how we should have managed to go on. 

Somewhat late in the day we arrived at Sokoso, after 
a terribly slow journey, having made only six miles in 
nine hours. The road is very sandy and passes over 
several ranges of hills. Branches of trees continually 
barred our passage, and the axe was in constant use. 
Since we left Palapshwe we had not come across a 
single village ; here and there we met a few bushmen 
tending Khama's animals, but the country is practically 
uninhabited. It is well wooded everywhere, and every 
now and then we came across big trees, sometimes as 
much as twenty and twenty-five feet high. I found but 
few of the big ant-hills of which I had heard so much ; 
they are indeed scarce, and are met with chiefly between 
Palla and Cecil Camp, along the Crocodile river. Birds 
were very rare, and the toucans, numerous before, had 
absolutely disappeared ; a few partridges, pheasants, and 
small geese were all the game we saw. 

We occasionally met small bands of five or six natives 
coming from the Zambezi and going to the colony 
to work in the mines. Their costume consists simply 
of a belt, to which is attached a skin passing between 
the legs and fastened at the back. Over the shoulder 
they carry a stick, to each end of which a gourd is fixed. 
A native hatchet and an assegai complete their equipment. 
A fact worthy of notice is that they have no notion of 
time or distance. Thus we met a band at Tshaneng, 
which is about four hundred miles from the Zambezi, 
whence they had come. On being questioned, some 
answered that we were five days from the Zambezi, while 
others said that it would take us two months to get there. 
42 



ACROSS THE DESERT 

Yet these people march on an average twenty miles 
a day, and consequently must have been travelling for 
some three weeks. The best way to find out when they 
had started was to ask them how big the moon was. 
Their provisions for such a long trip were very meagre. 
A little maize was all they carried with them, and as 
there is no money in their country, they were unable 
to buy anything en route; so with about thirty pounds 
of maize they are able to cover nearly a thousand miles. 
They were all fine men, very black and very muscular, 
and mostly appeared to be from twenty to twenty-five 
years of age. 

It is curious to reflect that as one penetrates further into 
the interior one loses, at the same time, the notion of great 
distances. (With some it is rather the notion of time that 
is lost.) By doing twelve miles a day, you end up by 
getting over 350 miles in a month. These daily marches 
gradually become a habit, and you think nothing of 
them. But when — say at the end of a couple of months — 
you look back, you are quite astonished to find you have 
cleared 700 miles. On the other hand, when you travel in 
a railway train, or a diligence, the rapidity of the journey 
itself, the constant change of scenery, climate, and the 
appearance of people give you a much more exact idea of 
the distance you are covering as you go along, than you 
can ever get while travelling in savage parts. The same 
remark applies to the reader of a book of African travel : 
in a few hours there appear before him a crowd of inci- 
dents and events which take the traveller as many weeks 
or months to experience, and it is for this reason that 
the reader exaggerates the dangers and difficulties of such 
a journey, which in reality is somewhat monotonous. 
A great deal of perseverance, inexhaustible patience, and 
a philosophy proof against every attack, are the real 
elements of success. "To be prepared for everything, to 
despair at nothing " : this is the only motto that an African 
traveller should adopt. How intoxicating, fascinating, 
43 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

and glorious it is to travel in Central Africa — some- 
times ! But when at ten o'clock at night you find yourself 
in the open country in the midst of a whirlwind that 
almost carries you off your legs, and when, after having 
experienced over a hundred degrees of heat at midday, 
you see the thermometer gallop down nearly to freezing- 
point ; when added to this your only companions are two 
oxen and a waggon, and, to crown your joys, you have 
only had a piece of bread and a cup of milk throughout 
the whole day, — why then you are apt to lose sight of 
the glory. 

Such was my condition at ten o'clock at night on 
September nth. I left Sokoso at six o'clock, and jogged 
along at a terribly slow pace till nine, the waggons again 
sinking deep into the sand. Till then we had moved very 
slowly — but we moved ; when, coming to a fairly steep 
ascent, the oxen protested, putting forth all the vis inertia 
of which they are capable when they give their mind 
to it. Blows rained down upon them, the air resounded 
with the most inhuman yells that can issue from a native's 
throat (and that is not a trifle), but nothing was of any 
good. For each ox that pulled, five went backwards ; in 
fact, one of them calmly dropped to the ground. Tom 
(one of the drivers) cut him about the head with his 
"shambock"* until his arms failed him — William relieved 
him with fresh force, but no better success — I kept 
leaping into the air, agitating my arms and howling with 
all the strength of my lungs — the beast bellowed, but did 
not budge. At last William, by means of biting his tail 
(a method usually infallible), persuaded him to rise to his 
legs. I then decided to harness the two teams together, 
and thus to send off one of the waggons to the place 
where we intended to pass the night, and then to let the 
beasts return and fetch the other. I stayed behind with 
the second waggon, and was not " fetched" till nearly three 
hours later, and then I was forced to come to the conclusion 

* Whip made of hippo hide. 



ACROSS THE DESERT 

that the animals were too tired to proceed any further 
that night ; in fact, one of them had fallen on the way 
and had refused to rise. As the first waggon contained 
all the provisions, I had nothing to eat till the next day, 
when I overtook it about 9.30 a.m. On my way I found 
the fallen ox, and, although I tried my hardest, nothing 
would induce him to rise. So perforce I left him as 
a feast for the vultures, feeling sure that I should find his 
bones on the return journey if I did not leave my own 
somewhere ahead. 

The next day (September 13th) we stopped near a well 
— a hole about half a yard in diameter and a yard deep, 
containing a bucket of yellowish water — or rather of liquid 
mud. There was just enough for the men and myself, 
but the poor beasts had to go without. At half-past one 
that afternoon we started off again. The sky was covered 
with thick clouds, and at the moment of setting out a 
dust-storm arose that lasted more than half an hour, and 
nearly blinded us. The animals had not touched water 
for nearly two days, and I was so afraid that they would 
not hold out that I sent them forward to Mesa, where 
I foresaw I should have to stay some days to rest them. 
At seven o'clock we started for Mesa, which is situated 
at one quarter of the distance between Palapshwe and the 
Zambezi, and arrived there the same night. We passed 
another caravan of natives proceeding south. 

Unfortunately I again lost two oxen. When we 
arrived they fell down exhausted, and we could not get 
them up again. Out of kindness, and to spare them a long 
agony of hunger and thirst, I put a bullet through their 
heads. That evening I was surprised by a very odd 
spectacle. Two young Englishmen rode into our camp, 
each mounted on an ox, and followed by a third loaded with 
baggage, driven by two boys about ten or twelve years 
old. Having started the previous April for the Zambezi 
they had first directed their steps towards Lake N'gami, 
across the Kalahari desert. There their oxen died one 
45 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

after the other, and one of the native chiefs refused 
them permission to cross his territory, giving his men 
distinct orders to kill them if they attempted to pass 
northwards. They waited, however, hoping that the chief 
would change his mind ; but their provisions became 
exhausted. They had not sufficient oxen to draw their 
waggon, so laying in a stock of maize-flour and maize- 
ears — roasted like coffee — and mounting two oxen, with 
a third to carry their provisions, they turned back. 
All the time they had to undergo terrible privations, 
constantly having to pass whole days without water ; 
they were, at the same time, without food, as water 
was necessary to cook their flour. It was with real 
joy that they learnt that an expedition was on the road, 
and they made straight for our camp. I offered them 
what I had, and they passed two days with me. Then 
I gave them some provisions with which to continue 
their journey, at the same time entrusting them with 
letters, pleased at having the opportunity of sending news 
home. I am afraid they furnished me with stories, a little 
in the style of Baron Munchausen, about the Bushmen. 
According to them these tribes were very ferocious, never 
missing an opportunity of killing any Europeans that 
they met if only they could surprise them, and they 
robbed and plundered whenever and wherever they had 
a chance. This was by no means our experience. We 
had been in constant contact with them for a fortnight, 
and they never once attempted to steal from us. Often 
when we had thrown away our empty tins they would 
come and ask our permission to take them away. 

It was with deep anxiety that I left Mesa. I knew 
that the next water was nearly sixty miles distant, and 
I wondered how the oxen, in their miserable state, would 
ever manage to cover this distance ; on the 20th September 
we had already been forty -eight hours without water. 
The beasts were a pitiable sight, and I began to be much 
afraid, as our chance of relieving them seemed still very 
46 



ACROSS THE DESERT 

distant. First one would fall and then another, and, once 
they were down, we had great difficulty in getting them to 
rise again. I sent one of my party forward to reconnoitre, 
and he returned reporting water about twent3^-five miles 
distant. At last, after having been sixty-seven hours 
without water, I reached Mathlalamabedi with one waggon 
and the double team, the other waggon having been 
"left till called for." 

But here again there was not enough for the oxen to 
drink, so I unyoked them, intending to send them forward 
a march of about three hours, to where I heard there was 
a large well. But I had hardly got them " outspanned " 
when they rushed off at full gallop in the direction of the 
water, which they could now smell. Our difficulty then 
was to prevent them getting there, for the well is dug 
out to a depth of about thirteen feet below the level of 
the ground, and is only about fifteen feet in diameter ; 
if they all arrived at the same time, there was great 
danger that they would knock one another about, and 
that some of them would get suffocated and trampled 
on. Already the first relay, to the number of sixteen, 
which had been sent on first, had escaped from their 
driver and rushed ahead, and had managed to crush one 
of their number, which I found afterwards lying in the 
water unable to rise. After an immense amount of 
trouble we hauled him out by means of " reims " attached 
to his horns and legs, but even then we could not get him 
to his feet. At Mesa an ox had fallen exhausted, but 
I succeeded in getting him up by administering to him 
about half a bottle of brandy. I tried this method once 
more here, but without success at the time, although two 
hours later the beast managed to get up. We ourselves 
were dying of thirst, but the water was so terrible that 
even the " boys " had not the courage to touch it. 
Imagine a mass of blackish mud, upon the top of which 
was a stagnant ooze of liquid animal manure. Covered 
with this layer of filth, it gave forth a putrid odour which 
47 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

completely impregnated you if you touched it. I fished up 
a pailful, and having thrown some alum into it I filtered 
it over and over again, and having well boiled it made 
some coffee and determined to try it. The coffee was 
bitter, with a distinct ammoniacal taste, and in the evening 
I was seized with violent vomiting. But if I had the 
courage to drink it, I was not bold enough to wash in 
it, the smell was too dreadful. Yet for three days I had 
not passed a drop of water over my face or hands, and 
I was covered with a thick layer of dust, which, as I freely 
perspired, adhered to me all over. 

The worst was that I was forced to remain near the 
waggon, as the oxen could not return until the next day, 
and then they would have to go back and fetch the other 
waggon ; so there still remained the prospect of three 
more days without a wash, not counting that if I wished to 
drink at all I should have to make the best of this putrid 
water. Near the well we found half a dozen Bushmen,, 
two of whom were living skeletons, all shrivelled up, with 
face and body covered with wrinkles ; they were at least 
eighty years old. Their hair was perfectly white, and 
their bodies, almost mummified, covered with ulcers, 
presented a striking contrast to the natives we had up to 
then come across. After all there was nothing to be 
surprised at in their appearance, when one remembered 
that every day of their life they partook of this kind of 
water ; they consumed it without the slightest sign of 
disgust. They begged us to give them some tobacco, 
from which they might make snuff; they never smoke. 
Their food consists of whatever they can find — locusts, 
dead animals, and even snakes. One of my men having 
shot a python, got the Bushmen to skin it, and this done 
these men carefully took away the flesh and, after cooking 
it, eat it. What is still more incredible, in the body of 
the python was a small gazelle, covered with slime, and 
this was also eaten up by the Bushmen. 

The following day I sent the oxen to fetch the second 
48 



ACROSS THE FJESERT 

waggon, and when they returned I sent them once more 
to Linokani, some six miles ahead, where they had been 
watered before. My orders were to bring back the animals 
as soon as they should have drunk, but as they had not 
returned late in the day, I sent some of the men to the 
place where the oxen were watering, and they returned 
with the news that five of them were hors de combat — 
one dead and four d}dng. It was absolutely impossible 




MASARWA NOMADS IN THE KALAHARI DESEE 



to go forward under these circumstances, and to go back 
was equally difficult. On Friday, the 25th September, 
the situation became still more serious, for having then 
stayed the three previous days in the neighbourhood of 
the stagnant pool I previously described, with nothing 
but putrid water, T found myself down with a bad attack 
of fever. 

On Sunday, the 27th September, we shifted our camp 
to Linokani, and it became absolutely necessary to make 
up my mind what I would do. 

I needed at least fifteen fresh oxen before I could 
1'- 49 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

move ; then I might reach the Zambezi before the rains. 
I had said that I would go there, and I was determined to 
keep my word. Only how, without the fifteen oxen — how 
on earth was it to be done ? 

That evening another complication declared itself. My 
men deserted en masse, Major and Joseph alone remaining 
faithful. The others, declaring they had no desire to die 
at this spot, set out without any means of carrying water, 
and without provisions, for Palapshwe. They must have 
suffered terribly before they got there, if indeed they ever 
did. I had now nobody I could send for help. I en- 
trusted some letters to a Bushman, but I had not the 
slightest faith that they would be delivered, as I had 
to pay him in advance. I determined to abandon the 
waggons, take one ox, on which I should load enough 
provisions to last for two months, my donkey to carry 
my photographic outfit, and my pony to ride. I left 
Major in charge of the waggons, taking only with me . 
Joseph, the other Basuto boy — a lad of fifteen — who had 
remained faithful ; in this way I hoped to get to the 
Victoria Falls. In the meantime I trusted that help 
would arrive, and that at least one of my waggons would 
come and pick me up. Of course I risked losing a 
waggon and all it contained, but what could I do .? I 
had determined to go to the Zambezi, and I thought I 
might just as well try to get there as remain in this 
swampy desert until help came. 

It took two days to reach Mathlala. At first the 
pack ox refused to carry his load, and commenced by 
sending everything flying into the air ; afterwards it 
became more docile, and did its work fairly well. 
At this point the appearance of the country changed 
considerably. We came across numbers of trees with 
very thick trunks, from which proceeded masses of leafy 
branches, sometimes reaching to the ground. Approach- 
ing Mathlala the country was well wooded, but before 
us there again stretched out an immense bare plain, 



ACROSS THE DESERT 

unrelieved by timber or vegetation of any kind. After 
a trek of about four hours across this we halted, having 
seen a very pretty mirage effect of Lake Makarikari. 
At one part, for a distance of about two miles, the plain 
is covered with thousands and thousands of white shells 
and enormous quantities of huge ant-hills, from which 
white ants pour in myriads. On the 4th October we 
arrived near Lake Makarikari, but were unable to get 
to the water, as it was very far out and there are quick- 



IN THE KALAHARI DESERT. 

sands all along the borders of the lake. Again we saw 
a mirage : an island apparently suspended in mid -air. 
The next day in pelting rain we reached Kuadiba, 
which is the name of some wells, and not of the river 
marked on the map. Near these is a small Mangwato 
village. The natives — fine men, and very different from 
the Bushmen we had been previously meeting — brought 
us some cream of tartar fruit (the fruit of the baobab 
tree), about twice the size of an egg, which when dis- 
solved in water gives to the latter a slightly acidulated 
taste. I passed the afternoon in taking photographs in 
the native village, which consists of a few huts made out 
of branches and covered with straw. The native utensils 
51 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

are of a most primitive kind, consisting of earthen pots 
for cooking, gourds* for boiling water, mortars for grind- 
ing corn, and spoons, made of a kalabash cut in two, 
for ladling liquids. The native costume is composed of a 
kaross round the middle, with a few ornaments of 
beads and some copper and tin bracelets, and earrings 
of the ordinary sort. I bought a few articles, and 
found that the most useful things for barter were red 
beads and knives. The next day (6th October), after 
a trek of four hours, we arrived at the Chuani river, 
where we found another temporary village of native huts. 
These were occupied by native hunters. Here we ate 
some giraffe meat, which we found stringy but of a 
very delicate flavour, and almost black in colour. The 
water of the river is salt, and the natives collect the salt 
in the form of very transparent crystals. I entrusted 
some letters, asking for help, to some Ba-mangwato 
who happened to be there ; but I did so with little 
hope that they would arrive in time to be of any 
service, seeing that the men had no intention of starting 
for a month, and thus my letters could not get to 
Palapshwe till late in November. 

For two long terrible days we crossed enormous plains 
in a perfectly torrid heat. These plains run along one 
of the Ma-Karikari salt lakes, and must have been part 
of the bed of the lake. No vegetation grows on the sand, 
which is impregnated with salt, so that the reflection of 
the sun makes the heat intolerable. I was so exhausted 
I could hardly stand on my feet. We had scarcely any 
water left, and were literally dying of thirst. The second 
day (October 9th) we made a start at seven in the 
morning, and after going two hours, crossing the dry 
beds of three rivers, we arrived at a well of detestable 
water. Three-quarters of an hour later we halted, certain 

* It seems at first sight absurd to think of boiHng water in a kalabash, , 
but I have often seen it done. The only precaution to be taken to avoid 
burning the gourd is to keep it far enough away from the fire. 
52 



ACROSS THE DESERT 

that we were in the neighbourhood of water but not 
knowing where it was. At last, after a search of two 
hours, whilst following a path at right angles to the road, 
we found a pool of 150 feet by 15 feet, and about 3 feet 
deep. The water was excellent, and it was a rare piece 
of good fortune to have found it, for the morning before 
I had only had a pint, and since then none at all. 

On the following day (October loth), after a march 
of sixteen miles across enormous plains, not quite so arid 
as the ones we had crossed before, we arrived at the river 
Nata. The waters were very salt, and undrinkable ; but 
on the left of the road, about 1 50 feet from the river, we 
found three small wells. Some Bushmen, who were look- 
ing after Khama's cattle, brought us milk, and we had 
plenty of fish and birds — the latter abounding in enormous 
quantities on the Nata. That night we started again, and 
went for three hours, keeping for at least half the time 
along the bank of the river. The country was terribly 
flat, and we were besieged by clouds of gnats. We 
camped in an old kraal, but were kept awake all night by 
the stings of the gnats and the bites of the vermin. A 
few hours' march in the morning brought us to the Nata 
drift, and there I decided to have a rest under some 
beautiful trees. 

On the 1 2th October we started again in the evening. 
For the last few days, and especially during the nights, 
we had suffered the most varied tortures, being positively 
devoured by the insects : ants — black, red, and white, big 
and small — spiders, beetles, mosquitoes, and flies of all 
sizes and colours. 

Taking stock at this time, I found that I had only 
twelve boxes of sardines and five tins of beef left. Luckily 
I had 100 lbs. of flour and 20 lbs. of coffee. We started 
at 8 o'clock in the evening, and trekked till half-past two in 
the morning, having found water after a march of two hours. 
W^e were then crossing some enormous plains, called the 
Mokoruani Flats, or " Palm Plains " ; as a fact, those 
53 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRCIA 

trees are very abundant at this point, and we halted 
under an enormous one standing quite alone. We were 
in the country of big game, and we found several giraffe 
and lion spoor ; but we had something else to do than 
attempt to follow it up, though all night I slept with 
my rifle ready. 

For the next five days our journey presented no 
incidents worth recording. We marched as long each 
day as the heat would permit over the thick sand, halting 
wherever we were lucky enough to find water, which was 
not often. All along the route we found the traces of 
giraffe, elephant, koodoo, and other animals, but never 
actually sighted any. At two o'clock in the morning of 
the 19th October I was awakened by the sound of feet 
approaching, and saw a caravan of a dozen porters, accom- 
panied by a European, coming from the direction of 
the Zambezi. We entered into conversation. The man 
represented himself as an English minister, giving me . 
an excellent address in the country, and adding that he 
belonged to the Primitive Methodist Mission at Shesheke, 
and that he had intended to go into the country of the 
Mashukolumbwe, but that the loss of his oxen had pre- 
vented his doing so. I afterwards found out that he was 
merely a carpenter attached to the Mission, and that he 
had just been dismissed. He gave us, however, lots of 
information concerning the road to the Zambezi, telling 
us where we should find water and the time that it would 
take us to reach our destination. We found that we were 
actually seventy miles from Pandamatenga, and 130 miles 
from the Zambezi. 

The 19th, 20th, and 21st of October were terrible days. 
I pushed on as hard as I could, but progress was slow 
as the ground was still very thick with sand, and the heat 
terrible ; for hours I was without water, and as I was able 
to get but little sleep, the fever again attacked me. 

At 8 o'clock on the 22nd of October I arrived in sight 
of Pandamatenga, and reaching it a little later, rejoiced 
54 



ACROSS THE DESERT 

in the sight of a number of habitations and human beings. 
I was very kindly received by Henry Wall, a native 
hunter, who had taken up his quarters here. The frightful 
ordeal was over, and only those who have come through 
anything of the sort can imagine what a joy it was. 

I stayed in Pandamatenga until the afternoon of the 
26th October. I had engaged six porters (Mashubias and 
Barotses), and it was arranged that I should go and say 
good-bye to Henry Wall. I started on ahead, and shortly 
afterwards my porters arrived. They said that the loads 
were too heavy, that they had all been ill in consequence, 
and that six more porters must be engaged. I gave 
my consent to this, and that night we camped near a 
small river. At sunrise two of the men started off to find 
the extra porters, and at the end of about an hour and 
a half returned with a troop of six, two of whom were 
children. Thus I had a train of twelve, and seeing that 
they had only a load of 300 lbs. to carry between them, 
it cannot be said that they were over-weighted. I grew 
more experienced in the ways of porters before I was 
done with them. 

My men formed a curious collection of different types : 
two or three Mashubias, who possessed no particular points 
of interest ; some Barotses, carrying themselves with a 
peculiar air of pride — they had very fine features and 
seemed much more intelligent than the others ; a Batoka 
and his two children, all with two of their front teeth 
extracted, giving them an aged and sulky appearance ; 
and lastly, a Mashukolumbwe, with hooked nose and 
protruding lips which he would thrust forward. 

It was very hot when we started, and at the end of 
half an hour the men stopped. In vain I ordered them 
to proceed : they calmly commenced to light a fire by 
means of a rod rubbed against a piece of dry wood 
and some tinder. Having quietly smoked their pipes, a 
good many of them indulging in dakka (see p. 24) for 
about three - quarters of an hour, they started again. 
SS 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

Twenty minutes later they stopped once more, this tini6 
demanding food. I refused point blank, and ordered 
them to go on, but they would not move an inch. Half 
an hour helving elapsed I began to lose patience, and 
having repeated my order to rise, to which they paid 
not the slightest attention, I walked towards the biggest 
of the band, the Mashukolumbwe, and put forward my 
hand to seize him by the scruff of the neck. My gentle- 
man did not give me time, but, stepping back, grasped 
his assegai and pointed it towards me. I had my revolver 
out in a second, and stood facing him with it. All the 
rest bolted and hid behind trees, and it was only when 
I had returned my weapon to its case that I could prevail 
upon them to come out and start again. We had not got 
forward another mile when they stopped again, declaring 
that it was too hot to proceed. There was nothing to 
be done, so I was forced to give in. The heat really was 
terrible ; we were worried by flies, gnats, and minute bees, 
that simply put me to torture, getting into the eyes, nose, 
and ears, and penetrating underneath my shirt. The men 
lit a fire, and hoping that perhaps after eating they would 
make up their minds to go on, I distributed some millet to 
them. Two hours passed before they were ready, and all 
through the day it was the same thing : march for half an 
hour and rest for twice that time, so that it was nearly 
dark before we arrived at Gazuma, a distance of ten miles 
from our starting-point, which had taken us ten hours to 
traverse. 

We halted on the borders of an immense flat near a 
vley, and hardly had we stopped when the sky became 
overcast with ink-black clouds ; a violent wind arose, and 
all of a sudden we were plunged in complete darkness. 
Lightning appeared on the horizon, and thunder could 
be heard growling in the distance. The storm quickly 
approached us. Near the place where we had halted 
there were only two or three trees, and by the light of 
the flashes of lightning I made my men cut some 
56 



Across the desert 

branches with which to make a shelter. They had 
only got down a few branches when the storm burst 
over us ; torrents of rain fell, and we put the baggage, 
as well as we could, under shelter. As for ourselves, 
we had to accept a soaking with resignation, for the 
rain continued all through the night without ceasing. 

The next morning (28th October) we started at 6.30 ; 
after having crossed the plain we entered a forest. My 
men marched much better, for they had had no water 
and nothing to eat, and they were anxious to get to a 
well. This we ought to have found near a dried-up 
vley, and when I arrived there I discovered that all my men 
had become separated, having scattered themselves in 
the forest to look for fruit and honey. For the first time 
I was able to witness the truly marvellous intelligence (I 
use this word purposely) of the honey bird. This little 
creature, very fond of honey, can only obtain it with the 
help of man, as the hives are usually in the middle of a 
dead trunk. When the honey bird catches sight of men, 
he whistles until he has attracted their attention, and then 
flutters from branch to branch, waiting for his two-legged 
partners, and leads them to the hive. With axes the men 
break the trunk open, taking the honey away, but always 
leaving a little for the honey bird. 

We walked on till three o'clock, when we stopped, 
wondering what had become of the others. We had 
marched very quickly, and ought to have caught them up 
much sooner. After an hour we heard shouts, which we 
answered, when two of the men appeared, announcing that 
we had passed the water and that it was about an hour 
and a half's march in the rear. We retraced our steps, 
and when we reached the wells found only four of the 
eight men who had separated themselves. 

The water was in a well about eight feet deep, with 

three pools, each containing about four quarts. We filled 

our calabashes, and then had to wait till the water had 

oozed once more through the sand, an operation that took 

57 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

about five minutes for every quart. After we had waited 
an hour the other men came up, the Mashukolumbwe in 
a violent perspiration and carrying triumphantly a dozen 
beautiful honeycombs. This was the honey of the big 
bee, a certain number of which were still adhering to the 
comb. They are larger round than our European bees, 
but much shorter and of a greyish colour. The natives 
declare that they have no sting ; in fact, they removed 
them with their fingers without harm. The honey is 
very aromatic, and the natives are extremely fond of it. 

After having prepared some food we were just getting 
ready to start when about one hundred yards from us We 
saw a human form, which immediately disappeared. With 
savage yells my fellows started in pursuit, and in about 
twenty minutes returned, leading a little old man, who 
was trembling all over. He was a Masarwa Bushman, 
and had taken us at first for Matabele, of whom they are 
terribly afraid. When he perceived a European he was. 
perfectly reassured. I had just bought an ostrich egg of 
him for a cup of grain, when suddenly there appeared by 
him, without anybody having previously remarked his exist- 
ence, a little monkey, who squatted behind the old man 
and looked at us with astonished eyes. It turned out to be 
the Masarwa's little boy, and he offered to sell him to me 
for another cup of grain. I offered him half a cup, and 
he accepted. He had got up to go, leaving the little 
animal behind him without an adieu, when I called him 
back and told him I was only joking, and that I did not 
want to buy his little one. His face grew very long, and 
he insisted that the bargain had been completed. Tthen 
explained to him that he might keep both grain and 
child, at which news his serenity returned. What I really 
wanted, I said, joking, was a boy from ten to twelve years 
of age. This he informed me would be much dearer, 
and would cost at least a pound of powder. I told him 
that was too dear, and without waiting for his reply we 
continued our way. The old fellow plunged into the 
58 



ACROSS THE DESERT 

forest, his little boy trotting quietly behind him. He was 
about four years old, and as agile as a young gazelle. 

The next day my men marched very well, never stop- 
ping until 8.30 p.m., when the rain began to fall again, 
and when we found it necessary to construct a shelter out 
of the branches of trees, under which we again managed 
to sleep. When I awoke the following morning (October 
29th) the sun was shining brilliantly. We emerged from 
the forest, and struck the long valley of Leshuma, which 
is bordered by a low range of well-wooded hills, and 
where numerous springs of good water are to be found. 
At this point we were not more than thirteen miles from 
the Zambezi, and I calculated to reach it towards ten 
o'clock in the evening. Nevertheless at the end of half 
an hour the men stopped and clamoured for food. The 
experiences of the first day were repeated, and I refused 
absolutely to give them anything to eat. It was of the 
utmost importance that I should reach the river quickly, 
as the Leshuma valley is infested with " tsetse," and my 
donkey ran the risk of being stung. Neither entreaties 
nor threats were of the slightest avail, the men declaring 
that they would only start when the sun had reached a 
point that they indicated, and which meant two o'clock in 
the afternoon. In a tremendous passion I took all the 
grain and gave it to my donkey, determined that if they 
insisted on remaining they should at least do so on an 
empty stomach. They consoled themselves by smoking 
their dakka pipes, and would not budge an inch, and as 
a matter of fact it was past two before we again made a 
start. 

At the end of an hour and a half s march we entered 
a forest. Here the vegetation assumed a very grand 
appearance, gigantic trees rising high above a very thick 
underwood. At about five o'clock we emerged from the 
forest, and found a vast plain stretched at our feet, and 
before us on the horizon a range of wooded hills. 
We could not be far from the river, which I felt 
■ 59 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

sure must flow at the foot of these hills. We were 
walking through some high grass, when what was my 
astonishment to find an enormous mass of water at my 
feet. 

The Zambezi ! At last I had arrived, not without 
difficulty ; but still I had accomplished what I had said I 
would. 

The river flows between low banks fringed with high 
grass. On my left was the Linyanti, which here throws 
itself into the Zambezi. The two bodies of water at 
this point are about the same size, nearly seven hundred 
yards across. Between the two lies the island of Mpalera, 
on which were growing some palm trees, sole indication of 
tropical vegetation. I might easily have fancied myself 
on the banks of the Seine in Normandy if it had not been 
for a crocodile that was playfully sporting in the middle 
of the stream. On the other side of the river appeared 
the huts of the French Evangelical Mission. That very 
morning, when leaving camp, a native messenger whom 
I had sent from Pandamatenga to the missionaries 
announcing my arrival, gave me a letter from M. Jalla, 
chief of the mission, bidding me welcome and asking me 
to fire a gun to announce my arrival. I therefore dis- 
charged my rifle several times, and shortly afterwards 
was answered from the other bank. After waiting half 
an hour I perceived a boat crossing the river ; it was 
hollowed out of a tree, and was propelled by three rowers, 
standing up, fore and aft. At last it reached me, and 
a young Frenchman, M. Vollet — a recently - arrived 
missionary — bade me welcome, explaining M. Jalla's 
regret that he was unable, through indisposition, to come 
himself He also told me that I could not cross that day, 
for the country was very unsettled, and the natives very 
sensitive, adding that M. Jalla had been forced to send to 
Shesheke to ask the chief's permission for me to enter the 
country. Meanwhile I installed myself in a native hut 
belonging to a native hunter, another of Westbeach's old 
60 



ACROSS THE DESERT / 

men, who had settled down there after his master's 
death. 

I will here give an extract from my diary : — " So here 
I am on the Zambezi, in that part of Central Africa that 
for so many years I had been longing to visit. After all, 
a journey in Central Africa is not so very terrible. It 
is very monotonous ; you must be endowed with an in- 
exhaustible fund of patience and a good stomach. You 




MY HOUSE ON THE ZAMBEZI. {See page 63.) 



must be ready to put feelings of disgust aside, to drink 
water more or less putrid, to eat no matter what, to go 
very often without meat, salt and sugar, to remain days 
together without washing, to sleep whole nights in the 
water, and frequently to remain for twenty or thirty hours 
without a shred of dry clothing on you. If you make up 
your mind to the worst you won't be disappointed. 
You must get accustomed to live from day to day 
without trying to know what will happen on the morrow, 
61 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

You must be ready to change your route and plans from 
one hour to the other. African travelHng is a constant 
struggle against the elements, man, and animals ; you are 
the slave of these three greatest factors of life in savage 
parts." 

These remarks, written at the time, show the frame 
of mind I was in. Whether it is a failing or not, I have 
always made it a rule throughout my life to try and make 
the best of the present circumstances, letting the future 
take care of itself ' Forward " has been my motto, and 
the result has been pretty satisfactory, after all — up to 
the present. 

At the end of a few days, permission to cross the river 
came from the chief of Shesheke — a gentleman afflicted 
with the harmonious name of Nwiangnia Nwongio — and I 
therefore shifted all my worldly possessions to the northern 
bank of the Zambezi. My servant Joseph was, however, 
so ill that I had to leave him in charge of the hunter. 
When I reached Kazungola, I found the mission station a 
few hundred yards from the river ; it consists of a well- 
built house with two wings. Mr. and Mrs. Jalla bade me 
welcome, and asked me to share their lunch. The meal 
over — the first real meal I had sat down to for nearly three 
months — Mr. Jalla asked me where I was going to put up. 
The question seemed, to say the least, peculiar, considering 
that there was no other house there but his own ; and it 
was hard to think that 1 should not be even offered the 
shelter of a roof, and that a countryman of mine, knowing 
all the hardships I had gone through, being aware that I 
was alone, ignorant of the language, without even a 
servant, should deny me the hospitality of his roof in the 
heart of Africa. But the situation was such a serious one 
for me that, putting all feelings of pride aside, I begged 
him to put me up. He replied that this was impossible, as 
he was expecting an English missionary. I did not insist, 
but left to look about and find what I could do. I soon 
discovered an old tumbled-down house, consisting of two 

62 



ACROSS THE DESERT 

rooms, that had been erected by the first missionaries who 
settled down there. It was now used as a stable for goats, 
and I determined to take up my quarters in it. I returned 
to see Mr. Jalla, and at first he made some objection ; but 
I declared that I ivoiild make my quarters there, and I 
proceeded to do so. I had secured the services of a boy of 
twelve, and, Mr. Jalla having been induced to lend me two 
of his men, I set to work to make the place habitable. 
I made a bed by sticking four poles in the ground, and 
fastening cross sticks and reeds on to them. Over this I 
placed a heap of dry grass. After sleeping for so long a 
time on the ground this was almost comfortable. With 
reeds I made a kind of shelf and a table, and an old box- 
made a substitute for a chair. I shall never forget the 
misery of the days I spent in that place. It was inhabited 
by all the pests in creation — vermin, rats, wasps, scorpions, 
and snakes. Once while I was writing a puff-adder jumped 
from among my papers, and, falling in my lap, slid down 
one of my legs ; and another time I woke up with the 
sickly sensation of something cold passing over my face. 
I jumped out of bed, and soon after discovered a huge puff- 
adder- between my blankets. Mr. Jalla asked me, it is 
true, to partake of lunch at his house, but for breakfast 
and dinner I had to share the porridge cooked by my boy. 
To add to all this, the roof of the hut was in so dilapi- 
dated a state that the rain used to pour through it in 
torrents. Immediately after my arrival I had sent fresh 
messengers to the chief of Shesheke to ask for his leave to 
go there, and it was with true delight that I hailed the 
arrival of canoes sent to fetch my baggage. I decided to 
go myself overland, and prepared for an immediate start. 



63 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE BAROTSE* 

THE next morning we left at about 8.30, and after 
a three hours' march arrived at a fairly large village 
called Mombova. We halted under the "lekothla," the 
kind of open shed used by the chief to receive strangers. 
Crowds of people came to see me, saluting me with 
cries of " Tumela." Mokumba, the chief of the district, 
was away, but just as I was about to start the small 
chief who represented him in his absence came and 
demanded "setsiba" (a present). I promptly refused, 
and asked him what he meant by asking a present without 
even bringing me one. My answer evidently greatly 
astonished him, and without further discussion I pro- 
ceeded on my way. Soon afterwards an intelligent 
looking native approached and offered to accompany 
me ; though I refused his offer I could not get rid of 
the fellow, and I gave him to understand that he was 
wasting his time, as he would not get anything for his 
trouble. 

Soon after leaving Mombova we passed some women 
working in the fields : most of them wore strings of 
beads on the breasts, their costume merely consisting 
of a skin round the waist ; some of them had children 
tied across their loins in another skin. The men wore 
large wooden combs in their hair and bands of beads 
on their foreheads ; to their hair were also attached 
duck's feet, hare's tails, and quills containing medicines. 

* The correct plural is Marotse, but I retain the form crystallized by usage, 
64 



THE BAROTSE 

One of them wore a regular helmet made out of the 
beak of a pelican. 

As far as Mombova our path had been across the plains, 
and all the way huge grey flies had surrounded us in 
myriads. But a little way out of Mombova we entered 
a forest well known for its lions ; the tsetse fly was also 
very abundant, while the heat was intense, and rendered 
more disagreeable as it was damp at the same time. We 
soon reached a small river, nearly dried up (the Umgwezi), 
in which, however, were still to be found a few pools of 




TYPE OF BAROTSE. 



excellent water. My men had marched well, seeing that 
between half-past eight in the morning and two in the 
afternoon they had only rested half an hour at Mombova. 
After a short halt we set off again about a quarter-past 
two. Our path still lay through the forest, and we passed 
numerous lots of natives at different times. At 6.30 p.m. 
we reached and crossed a small river, close to which we 
settled ourselves for the night, one of the most miserable 
I ever spent. We had scarcely halted when such a 
perfect deluge of rain poured down that we found it 
impossible to light a fire for cooking, so I had to be con- 
tent with a piece of wet bread. I spread out my blankets 
F 65 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

under a tree, and with four sticks, rigged 'Up my macintosh 
sheet and mosquito net above me. The soil, however, 
was soaked through, and all I could do was to heap up 
some damp grass and try and keep myself above the 
water. Then rolling my blanket round me, I managed 
to sleep till two o'clock in the morning, when I awoke 
— dreaming I was drowning. Rain was still pouring in 
torrents and I was soaked to the skin, while the boots 
which I had beside me were full of water, and I had to 
empty them and put them on immediately, or else I 
should never have got into them again. I fell asleep 
again, and on waking at daybreak found the rain had 
not in the least abated. I had no more bread ; there 
was no chance of fire-kindling, and consequently nothing 
to eat. Like all natives, my men strongly objected to 
marching in the rain, and it was only with the greatest 
trouble I could persuade them to proceed. We started 
at 7 o'clock in the morning, and in the midst of the 
driving rain crossed some large plains between belts of 
forest ; the ground was covered with clay which caked 
under and along the side of my boots, large quantities 
even penetrating inside, which rendered walking neither 
easy nor pleasant. Right and left the grass was very 
high, and the path so slippery that we almost fell at 
every step, while the ever-accumulating mud made the 
weight of my boots unbearable. 

About 1.30 p.m. we entered the forest, and at 3.45 
crossed the river Kasaia. The rain had ceased, and we 
were able to make a small fire and cook some millet, of 
which I was in great need. At 4.30 we started again ; so 
did the rain, and for hours we trudged on through that 
dreadful clay. As night began to fall the path got better, 
and I set my men going at a good pace ; but at 8.30 they 
stopped and refused to proceed, saying they were done up. 
As a matter of fact we had accomplished eighteen hours' 
good walking in the two days, so that I reckoned we 
ought to be quite near Shesheke ; however, it was no good 
66 



i 



THE BAROTSE 

making a fuss, as the men would not go on. It was 
raining in torrents all the time ; besides, we were in the 
middle of an immense plain with no tree of any size 
worth mentioning, so it was useless seeking shelter. I 
simply rolled myself up in my blanket and fell asleep, 
almost floating in water. 

Next morning we were on the march at 7 a.m. ; it had 
rained continuously through the night, and I had not a 
dry thread on me. I took off one boot to get rid of the 
mud, and removed an enormous handful ; but I had so 
much trouble to get it on again that I made no experi- 
ment with the other. Without knowing it, we had been 
sleeping about a mile from a village. At last, about 
10.30 a.m., the rain having somewhat abated, we reached 
Shesheke ; the boats bringing my heavy luggage had 
arrived the night before. I cannot describe how pleased 
I was to take a bath and get a change, for during three 
days I had been soaked to the skin and up to my knees in 
heavy mud. Yet more pleased was I to think that now at 
last I was settled among genuine African natives. 

Dr. Livingstone was the first to introduce us to the 
Upper Zambezi. About 1840 he entered on the career 
of a missionary, and founded a mission at Kolobeng in 
Bechuanaland, near the chief Sechele ; but, attracted by 
the unknown, he soon pushed northwards, and in 1849 
he discovered Lake N'gami, situated to the south of the 
Zambezi in the middle of the Kalahari Desert. From 
there his idea was to reach Sebitoani, the King of the 
Makololo, whose power extended right over the Upper 
Zambezi. He sent a messenger to Sebitoani, who 
replied by asking the Doctor to come to him. But 
Livingstone was a very long time before he was able to 
put his plan into execution, because of the ill-will of 
Leshulatchi, the chief of Lake N'gami, who would not 
allow him to pass. At last, after two fruitless attempts, 
Livingstone arrived on the Zambezi. There on the island 
of Mpalera he found Sebitoani, the chief of the Makololos, 
67 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

who was a native of Basutoland, but had quitted that 
country shortly after its invasion by Sekonyela, the chief 
of the MantaHs, and with incredible perseverance cut a 
way by force of arms to the Zambezi, after having covered 
a distance of nearly 2000 miles. He found on his arrival 
on the Upper Zambezi that the Matoka were in power 
there. They were an extremely fierce tribe, given to all 
kinds of cruelties, their villages being ornamented with 
the skulls of their enemies. Sebitoani's contact with 
them nearly resulted in his downfall. At the very first 
the Matoka came across the Basuto, hoping to surprise 
them, but Sebitoani kept the chief of the Matoka at 
arm's-length, and on the other side of the river the two 
enemies came to blows. The Matoka were beaten, 
leaving an immense number of cattle in Sebitoani's hands. 
The Basuto chief then established himself on the banks 
of the Katone river, but was constantly harassed by the 
warlike Matabele, sometimes conquering, sometimes con- 
quered. At last, in order to avoid these incessant 
conflicts, he decided to go higher up the river ; and after 
having beaten the Barotse, who defended themselves 
bravely, he took possession and settled down in their 
valley. Nothing daunted, the Matabele determined to 
revenge their last repulse, and sent an impi along the 
right bank of the river Zambezi. On their arrival 
Sebitoani appeared to receive them in a most friendly 
manner, and conducted them to an island where he had 
already despatched some herds of cattle. While the 
Matabele gorged themselves with meat in happy ignor- 
ance of their fate, the canoes departed, and when famine 
had done its work and the Makololo judged their enemies 
sufficiently weakened, they fell upon them and slaughtered 
them to a man. When the news of this treachery reached 
the Matabele, Umsili Gazi sent out a fresh impi, who built 
their own canoes this time ; but the fever reduced them to 
such a state of weakness that they were forced to retire. 
On their march homewards they were fiercely attacked by 
68 



THE BAROTSE 

the Matoka, and only five finally returned to the country 
to tell the tale. Such at least is the version of the affair 
as narrated by the Makololo. 

Sebitoani, by his kindness and justice, soon gained the 
affection of the tribes he had conquered, and they were 
not long in accepting his rule with a good grace. When 
once his rule was established, he divided his power, 
according to an old Barotse custom, with his eldest 
daughter, Ma Moeriosane, who succeeded him on his 
death, which occurred from inflammation of the lungs, 
shortly after Livingstone's arrival. Livingstone decided 
to stay and explore the Upper Zambezi, but not wishing 
to expose his family to the dangers of the murderous 
climate, he returned to the Cape in 185 1. In 1853 he 
started again and went straight to Linyanti (on the river 
of that name), then the capital of the Makololo, but to-day 
abandoned. The king was then the son of Sebitoani, 
Sekeletu, who, though he refused to be converted by 
Livingstone, yet accompanied the celebrated traveller 
with an escort of 160 men. Livingstone first betook 
himself to Shesheke ; then he conceived the idea of 
opening communications with the West Coast, and for 
this purpose Sekeletu furnished him with an escort 
of 27 men. Foreseeing his possible death, Livingstone 
confided his journal to Sekeletu, begging him to try 
and forward it to his father-in-law, Mr. Moffatt, in case 
any disaster happened to himself However, he arrived 
quite safely at Loanda, and six months later returned 
to the Zambezi, not without having endured most terrible 
sufferings. He then began to think of establishing himself 
on the Zambezi, but the extreme unhealthiness of the 
country caused him to hesitate. The quantity of rain, 
the periodical inundations, and the prodigious quantity 
of matter in a state of decomposition — which, after each 
overflow, remains exposed to the rays of a tropical sun, 
while the density of the forests prevent the air from 
circulating — render the climate most dangerous even to 
69 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

the strongest constitutions ; so the Doctor determined 
to leave the country — this time by a new route to the 
East Coast. No man who has tried the discomforts 
and discouragements of African travel can sufficiently 
admire the indefatigable energy of this illustrious 
explorer. 

After Livingstone's departure grave trouble arose, 
which upset the empire of the Makololo. When 
Ma Moeriosane succeeded her father she found herself 
unable to govern, and yielded her power into the hands 
of her brother Sekeletu. But a very influential per- 
sonage, Mpempe (the very wicked), sought to possess 
himself of the sovereignty ; on one occasion he organized 
a plot to kill the Queen and the young King when they 
were ascending the river in company with Dr. Living- 
stone. But the conspiracy was discovered in time, 
and Mpempe put to death. Sekeletu proved himself 
a most cruel ruler. He was extremely superstitious, and 
always fancying that people were trying to bewitch him, 
wherefore he caused numbers of chiefs, with their entire 
families, to be put to death. Somewhat later, as Living- 
stone tells us, some young Barotse gave the first signal 
for revolt by making for the north, in the country of 
Masiko, and killing a Makololo. The Matoka of Suna- 
nane declared themselves independent, and those of 
Monemba followed their example, as did also Mashotlane, 
the chief of the Falls. At last, on Sekeletu's death in 
1 864, a revolution broke out ; a portion of the Makololo 
put themselves in opposition to the regency of Impololo, 
the uncle of Sekeletu, and went and settled on Lake 
N'gami. After their departure all the other vassals of 
the Makololo rose, and Impololo was put to death. 

I was able to make some very interesting notes, from an 
anthropological and ethnographical point of view, on the 
Marotse and the natives of the Upper Zambezi generally. 

The absolute ruler is the King — " Morena," " N'Kosi." 
His power is unlimited. In theory he is proprietor of all 
70 



THE BAROTSE 

his people and of everything they possess. Among the 
Barotse he is chosen by the most powerful chiefs from 
among the royal family, and is always a male. Next 
to him ranks the Queen, his sister, who shares his 
power. The King is assisted by a Prime Minister, 
called "Gambella," and a Council of State composed 
of the other chiefs of the tribe. A curious and signi- 




ficant feature of the Barotse Cabinet is that it contains 
a minister especially appointed to soothe the King's 
anger. He is called Matamoyo. His hut is in close 
proximity to the lekothla, and its courtyard is sacred. 
Every morning the King goes in state to the lekothla, 
attended by guards beating drums and playing on the 
instruments of the country. Here he remains till noon, 
dispensing justice, hearing complaints, receiving petitions, 
and the like. On one side of this open space lies a 
vast circular enclosure. Along the whole length of its 
inner wall is a row of women's huts, their courtyards 
divided off by branches. In the middle is an enormous 
71 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

hut set apart for the King. He alone of all males has 
the right to a hut entirely to himself. He is elaborately- 
hedged about with ceremony. His people address him 
as "Tao" (lion) or " Namane Etauna" (great calf). To 
perform the grand salutation the people go down on their 
knees, raise their hands high in the air, and cry aloud 
three times, " Ocho," which means " Great King." Yet 
more complicated is the name by which chiefs demon- 
strate their respect. They, too, lift their arms on high, 
crying, " Tao Tona Siche." 

Then they kneel down, pour water or sand into the 
hollow of their hands, and spread it over the King's 
arms. The next step is to strike their heads against the 
ground, then, beating their palms together, they intone 
general praise of His Majesty. This is called " Shalela," 
and is not unlike the salaam of the Indian. When 
the King has had enough of this, the chief officer 
calls out " Puma Noko " (the King is satisfied.) Con- 
sidering how much he gets of it. His Majesty seems 
a good deal less easily satisfied than I should be in his 
place. 

The country is divided into districts with a chief over 
each ; these again into villages ruled each by a sub- 
ordinate chief. All these chiefs are nominated by the 
King, and must be of pure Barotse blood. Arrived at 
his village the chief's power over it is unlimited — 
always remembering the superior authority of the King. 
He wears on his head a distinguishing ornament (sekala), 
made of ostrich feathers. A great chief has a specially 
big feather for specially big occasions. On the march the 
principal chief always goes first, and his canoe similarly 
precedes those of lesser men. When the chief comes to a 
village he has the right to half the young of the cattle ; 
the other half goes to the King along with half the butter 
produced in the village ; this is melted before it starts, and 
very nasty it is. Indeed, the chief may take from any- 
body anything he happens to possess — his cattle, the 
72 



THE BAROTSE 

produce of his handiwork or cultivation, even his children ; 
but the King in turn can take what he pleases from the 
chief Private property, therefore, does not really exist. 
In each village, however, every inhabitant has his own 
field, but one must be cultivated for the chief and one for 
the King. The old women of the village usually look 
after the King's field. From its produce comes a present 
to any traveller or ambassador of a neighbouring chief 
passing through. It is likewise drawn upon for the King 
or Queen if they be travelling by, or for a chief on his 
way to or from the King. Each chief pays tribute in 
skins and children. If it fails, or is insufficient, the neces- 
sary revenue is secured by a raid on the village. 

Personal freedom, speaking strictly, is as non-existent 
as personal property. Each chief has his slaves, and the 
whole people, of course, are potentially the slaves of the 
King. Children do not belong to their parents. The 
people at large, however, are virtually free, unless they 
are requisitioned by King or chief, which usually happens 
when they are children. There is no export trade in 
slaves, yet I have often been offered a child in exchange 
for a gun. One can buy a child for an ornament — the 
same price which is required for the purchase of an ox. 
If a slave falls sick on a journey and retards the march 
he is killed out of hand. 

The greatest crimes among the Barotse are any attempt 
against the King, and witchcraft. It is thoroughly charac- 
teristic of the institutions of the country that theft is 
considered as a crime only when it affects a chief In- 
fanticide, usually by strangulation, is fairly common. 
Assassination is rare ; while rape and adultery are severely 
punished. The punishment most in practice is strangula- 
tion, after which the body is thrown into the river. 
Crucifixion is rarer, but I have known cases of it. 
Another punishment consists in tying the criminal's hands 
behind his back, binding his feet, and then leaving him 
stretched out upon the sand with his face to the sun. 
73 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

Hanging by the wrists is also in vogue among these tribes. 
Every chief can sentence to death ; usually he executes 
the sentence himself, and on the spot. If a person who 
has been found guilty escapes, or is reprieved, he is nearly 
always pardoned afterwards. Fines, in the form of 
children and cattle, are frequently exacted ; children often 
hang themselves when they hear they are to be thus 
enslaved. Suicide, indeed, is common enough. A man 
will kill himself on the tomb of his chief; he thinks, as 
he passes near by, that he hears the dead man call him 
and bid him bring him water. 

These natives believe in transmigration of the soul into 
animals : thus the hippopotamus is believed to shelter the 
spirit of a chief Nevertheless they do not appear very 
clear that the soul cannot be in two places at once; else, 
if a chief has become a hippopotamus in the Zambezi, 
why should one slay one's self to bring water to his tomb ? 
The Barotse chiefly worship the souls of their ancestors. 
When any misfortune happens, the witch-doctor divines 
with knuckle -bones whether the ancestor is displeased, 
and they go to the grave and offer up sacrifice of grain 
or honey. They believe in a Supreme Being, " Niambe,"' 
who is supposed to come and take away the spiritual part 
of the dead. Thus, to express a man dead, they say, " O 
Nkeloe had " (he has been taken). They understand 
what fainting is, and distinguish it from death, saying 
" Umeletsi " (he is stiff). In time of war they carry the 
assegais that the King uses to the tomb of some departed 
warrior, that he may bless them and so insure a victory. 
They also bring to the tombs cooked meat, which they 
leave there a few minutes and then eat. When they go 
to pray by a grave they also leave some small white beads. 
Whilst an Englishman was journeying to Lialui, he passed 
near a little wood where there lay a very venerated chief 
The boatmen stopped, and, having sacrificed some cooked 
millet, their headman designated a man to offer up a 
prayer, which ran thus : " You see us ; we are worn-out 
74 



THE BAROTSE 

travellers, and our belly is empty ; inspire the white man, 
for whom we row, to give us food to fill our stomachs." 
The tombs of kings — about five-and-twenty of them — are 
sanctuaries or places of refuge ; so also are the residences 
of the Queen and Prime Minister. Sometimes the spirits 
of the dead return to this world : the Barotse term for 
this is " Litsosela." Cognate to this worship of ancestors 
is the great, respect displayed for parents and the old — 
especially the eldest of a family or tribe. They have 
altars in their huts made of branches, on which they place 
human bones ; they have no images, pictures, or idols. 

The Barotse are very superstitious. Like true Africans, 
they will never allow that a man can fall ill or die 
(even by an accident) without somebody having cast 
a spell to bewitch him. The sorcerers are supposed 
to carry on their persons pieces of wood and feathers 
containing meSicine poison. When they wish to kill 
anybody they penetrate secretly into the hut and spread 
or sprinkle over the meat the medicine which causes 
anyone who touches it to fall ill. When blood is found 
spilt in a courtyard it is a sign that a sorcerer has passed 
by. They believe in dreams : a woman often comes asking 
for a handful of millet, because she has dreamt that she 
is going to have some sickness if a certain person does not 
give her a handful of grain. 

Another flourishing superstition is akin to the European 
were-wolf They believe that at times both living and 
dead persons can change themselves into animals, either to 
execute some vengeance or to procure something that they 
wish for : thus a man will change himself into a hyaena or 
a lion in order to steal a sheep and make a good meal off 
it ; into a serpent to avenge himself on some enemy. At 
other times, if they see a serpent it is one of the "Matotela" 
or slave-tribe, which has thus transformed himself to take 
some vengeance on the Barotse. 

The ubiquitous witch-doctor is, of course, to be found 
among them, though not in the same potent and pestilent 
75 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

authority as among the Matabele. When anybody is ill 
the doctor diagnoses the disease by throwing the divining 
bones. Before a war the doctors concoct a special medi- 
cine, and, taking some of the froth from it, mark with it 
the forehead of those who have already killed a man. 
Similarly when they are about to start for the chase they 
arrange themselves in a circle at sunset, and the doctor 
comes with the bark of a tree filled with medicine, and 
with his finger marks the chiefs on the forehead in order 
to give them authority over the animals. The Queen's 
husband marks her himself in the same way. On the 
occasion of a storm, should a thunderbolt fall near a hut 
the doctor sprinkles the people with medicine to protect 
them. When a man is accused of practising magic they 
force him to undergo a terrible ordeal : they place a stone 
at the bottom of a jar of boiling water and make him 
take it out ; then they shut him up in a hut, and if the 
skin peels off his hand he is a sorcerer. In such a case 
the punishment is death, and he is either burnt alive or 
strangled and thrown into the river. 

Often when a person dies, poison is given to his fowls 
in order to see whether he has been the victim of magic. 
If they die he has been bewitched. Certain chiefs are 
supposed to have a special gift for the preparation of 
terrible poisons, whereof the Barotse are acquainted with 
various kinds. 

The Barotse have no family names. Each individual 
has a name of his own, and they add a kind of inverted 
surname, derived from their children. A man is called 
Ra (father of) and a woman Ma (mother of), with the 
name of the child added. A chief usually takes the name 
of his district, or coins a special term of eulogy for himself. 
Thus Lewanika was formerly called Robosi, but he 
changed his name to Lewanika because this means " He 
who collects all around him," or Emperor. From ten or 
twelve years, children eat and sleep separately from their 
mothers ; the women always eat apart. Nevertheless, 
76 



THE BAROTSE 

family feeling subsists strongly — at any rate, in form. 
Relations take leave of each other with elaborate 
ceremony. They spit upon each other's faces and heads 
— or rather pretend to do so, for they do not really emit 
saliva. They also pick up blades of grass, spit on them, 
and stick them about the beloved head. They also spit 
on the hands : all this is done to warn off evil spirits. 
Spittle also acts as a kind of taboo. When they do 
not want a thing touched they spit on straws and stick 



\ 



TYPE OF MASHUBIA 
(Barotse Country). 

them all about the object. On meeting after a long 
absence, relatives kiss hands, and children so greet their 
fathers every morning if they have slept apart. Outside 
the bonds of kinship greetings are less tender and less 
studied — always excepting the honour done to the King, 
as I have already described. For small chiefs it is sufficient 
to cry " Shangwe " (my master) two or three times and 
strike the hands together ; the chief acknowledges the 
salute by rubbing his hands. For myself, I observed — and 
this was my introduction to the anthropology of the 
Barotse — that when a native met me, whether for the first 
time or not, he said " Tumela," which means " hail." If I 
77 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

met a band of them they all said " Tumela " — not in chorus 
but one after another. They also dignified me at times as 
" Nwiangnia Morena " — son of a king. 

They do not smoke tobacco, but make it into a kind 
of cake, taking it in the form of snuff mixed with 
the ashes of certain woods. They smoke dakka (Indian 
hemp) through water, out of a horn, spitting through 
blades of straw. They hardly ever take more than a 
mouthful at a time, the pipe being passed in a circle to 
each in turn. 

Circumcision is not practised among the men or boys; 
but when a girl arrives at the age of puberty she is sent 
into the fields, where a hut is constructed far from the 
village. There, with two or three companions, she spends 
a month, returning home late and starting before dawn 
in order not to be seen by the men. The women of the 
village visit her, bringing food and honey, and singing 
and dancing to amuse her. At the end of a month her 
husband comes and fetches her. It is only after this 
ceremony that women have the right to smear themselves 
with ochre. 

The women are betrothed from infancy and marry as 
soon as they arrive at the age of puberty. There are 
no marriage ceremonies. When a man wishes to marry 
he goes and finds the father of some little girl of five or 
six years of age and asks for her hand. If his request 
is granted thenceforth he is bound to provide food and 
clothing for her, and send from time to time grain, skins, 
beads, and so on. After puberty, having previously sent 
an ox to her father, he comes and takes her. Husbands 
do not care for large families, and should they increase 
rapidly will frequently send the woman back to her 
people. Polygamy is common. On the death of a 
husband his brother has the control of the children and 
the first claim to the widows ; if he does not exercise 
this right they are free to take another husband. The 
duty of the wife is to cook the food, fetch water, clean 
78 



THE BAROTSE 

out the hut, and work in the fields. She does not sew; 
that is the husband's part. 

Funerals take place at night, and generally immediately 
after death, while the body is still warm. If the person 
when alive possessed the skin of an animal they wrap 
the body in it, and also in a plain mat, and then bury 
it near the hut. But death inspires them with a mortal 
terror, and thus the hut of a dead man is nearly always 
abandoned. Anything that has been used for the burial, 
such as the wood on which the corpse was carried, is 
left near the grave. It is the fashion to display great 
external signs of grief — howls and cries of lamentation 
and the like. Formerly the graves of chiefs were dis- 
tinguished by elephants' tusks turned towards the East. 
All cattle belonging to the deceased are killed, and any 
animal of which he was particularly fond, such as the 
cow whose milk he drank, is killed first. They bury in 
the kraal itself those who died in the kraal, but when- 
ever it is possible the dying are taken out and laid in 
the fields or forest. There are two reasons for this : first, 
they think that away from other people there is a better 
chance of the invalid making a recovery ; and, secondly, 
wherever the person dies he must be buried, therefore, if 
possible, far from their habitations. When a man dies, 
visits of condolence are paid to the relations, the visitors 
bringing a calf or a head of cattle as a mark of sympathy, 
which is killed and eaten as a kind of consolation. The 
night after the funeral is passed in tears and cries. A 
few days later the doctor comes and makes an incision 
on the forehead of each of the survivors and fills it 
with medicine in order to ward off contagion and the 
effect of the sorcery which caused the death. They 
place on their tombs some souvenir of the profession 
or vocation of the defunct : for example, if he had 
been a hunter, horns or skins ; if a chair-maker, a chair ; 
and so on. Over the grave a sacred tree is planted. 
This tree is a kind of laurel, called Morata. 
79 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

The costume of the Barotse is simple, consisting of 
the skin of some small animal attached to a belt of grass 
or leather ; another skin hangs down behind. In cold or 
wet weather they cover the shoulders with a skin, usually 
of antelope, which they also use to wrap round them at 
night. Another mode of dress is the " setsiba," which is 
said to have come into vogue since the time of Living- 
stone. This " setsiba " is a piece of calico, which is passed 
through the belt so as to hang down in front, then 
gathered between the legs, and passed through the belt 
behind, hanging down at the back. 

Their ornaments are many. The most usual is the 
circlet worn round the calf; it is made of copper wire 
or cords placed very close together just where the calf 
begins. In these regions you never see more than three 
rings on each leg. Round the waist is a belt, either 
of lizard skin or covered with shells, beads, or buttons. 
The women sometimes wear a band round the chest, 
passing over the breasts. Round the neck hang strings 
of beads — big ones of all colours ; and little beads 
(less sought after) are sometimes worn on a leather 
band in patterns ; snake skins rolled round the neck 
also serve as necklaces, while charms are very much 
appreciated. 

Every man carries a small scoop of iron, which is 
used to clean out the nose, to take snuff, to scrape off 
the perspiration, mud from the feet, to cut fruit, and 
to insert snuff deep inside the nose. 

Men and women wear the hair short, but a few let 
it grow to about seven or eight inches long. Some wear 
a band on the forehead where the hair begins to grow. 
They use wooden combs, and some fasten to the back 
of the head a little string of beads two or three inches 
in length. They also stick feathers in their hair (ostrich 
plumes preferably), also hares' and ducks' feet, while some 
even wear a serpent's skin round a plait of hair on the 
forehead. The women carry their " nose-cleaner " stuck 
80 



THE BAROTSE 

in the hair. They all have their ears pierced. The 
commonest kind of earring is from one to half a dozen 
circles of copper wire. Others wear a ring of beads, and 
some, less smart, merely a button, or a fairly long and 
thick piece of wood. Nearly all (men included) wear pins 
and needles of wood, and carry a snuff box — either a 
horn or a cartridge — while some have pieces of horn or 
ivory. Rings are very unusual. The commoner bracelets 
are of plaited straw or string, of which they wear as 
many as twenty. Then come bracelets of giraffe, buffalo, 
or hippopotamus skin, with a few of copper ; while those 
of ivory are worn only by royalty. It is customary 
for hunters to wear bracelets made from the entrails of 
animals. Women smear their hair and skin with ochre 
as an ornament ; but this privilege, as I have said, is 
reserved to the marriageable. 

Among the Mashukolumbwe and Matoka two or four 
of the front teeth are drawn out. Other tribes file the 
incisors. They are usually, though not always, covered 
with scar-like designs on the stomach, below the breasts, 
and on the arms. Sometimes you find some of them with 
drawings, generally in blue, on the forehead and beneath 
the eyes. 

The weapon most in use is the assegai, without which 
a man never travels ; the boatman takes it with him to 
cross the river, the shepherd to the fields. It is used for 
everything. As a means of defence they either thrust 
or throw it. It serves also as a pickaxe and spade to 
dig out holes, and plant branches wherewith to make a 
shelter. It is a knife to cut grass, twigs, and meat. It 
is a razor for feast days, and used to cut the hair ; in 
short, it is the indispensable instrument of their every- 
day life. The more highly-placed natives have guns, 
generally old muskets (Tower pattern, 1807), which they 
handle very skilfully. The chiefs nearly all possess 
Martini- Henrys, and some also knives. Hatchets assume 
all sorts of shapes. To cut wood they simply employ a 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

chisel mounted like an axe, with which they strike short 
quick blows, or else they employ it like a plane, seizing 
it in both hands ; as a chisel, for handwork, they draw 
it from the handle. They have also picks. 

Their manufactures comprise cords, pottery, leather, 
baskets, stone instruments, and metal-work. The Zambezi 
tribes are very hard-working people. Much of their time 
is given to utilizing the iron that they find in the beds 
of the rivers, out of which they make assegais, knives, 
picks, hatchets, and chisels for wood-cutting ; they are 
clever at wood- carving and sculpture. They make seats, 
mortars, and pots with covers of all shapes and sizes ; 
these are nearly always round, and are really very well 
fashioned. Everything is made out of a single piece, 
as they have no idea of joining. They thus carve out 
their own boats, which are naturally very solid and can 
attain a good rate of speed. They are also very deft at 
making baskets out of straw ; these are of all shapes and 
colours. They know also how to work in clay, making 
bottles and pots in a kind of terra-cotta very prettily 
ornamented. They dig holes in the ground, and cover 
the vessel they wish to bake in red-hot ashes. After 
baking, it is polished with a piece of horn, usually the 
foot of an ox or antelope. They only know of one 
colour for ornamenting their pottery — red — which they 
produce by the use of ochre. From leather they make 
bracelets and shambocks, mats from reeds, fishing-nets 
from a string they manufacture. From the fibre of the 
palm - tree they make bark cloth, with which they 
cover their grain. The cords used for common purposes 
are made by cutting out a strip from a simple palm- 
leaf; for finer objects they make a cord by rolling these 
strips on their knees. They know neither the use of nails, 
nor how to weave. I think I have said that the men 
do all the sewing, never the women. Straw hats form a 
large portion of their work, in order to sew which they 
have to make holes for the thread. Gold, silver, and silk 
82 



THE BAROTSE 

are unknown. They have cotton, but not the least idea 
how to use it. With feathers they make large "pompons," 
which the chiefs use to decorate their heads, but they look 
most like a dusting-brush. 

The native habitations on the Zambezi are well 
made and well arranged. They consist of several huts 
surrounded by an enclosure of bamboo or branches. 
These huts are divided inside ; the inner compartment 




rir333^' 




Knobkerry. 



BAROTSE IMPLEMENTS. 



is the sleeping-room, while the outer gallery is the place 
where they spend the day and receive their guests. 
The usual position of the natives is a squatting one, 
but on the Zambezi they use little seats. The partitions 
in the huts are made from a mortar composed of earth 
and cow-dung. The door is ornamented with different 
designs. They light no fire in these huts ; a separate 
hut is generally used for cooking purposes. In a 
corner of the courtyard is placed the altar on which 
they deposit their offerings — bones, and birds' tails or 
feathers. Every woman has a hut to herself The chief 
has no special dwelling — the King only, as I have 
83 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

explained, enjoys this prerogative — but he hves sometimes 
with one wife and sometimes with another. 

Their usual manner of making a fire is with a stick 
of hard wood, about four and a half feet long, and 
rather thin. With an assegai they make a hole in a 
piece of very dry wood ; they then take tinder (made of 
the dried fibres of the palm), and insert the extremity of 
the stick in the hole. One man keeps the stick between 
two pieces of wood so that it shall not jump out of 
the hole, while another turns the stick ; first slowly, 
between the palms of the hands, and then quicker, 
until at the end of a minute or two smoke begins to 
appear ; they drop the smouldering pieces so produced 
on to the tinder, which soon catches fire. Then they 
place the tinder on the grass and blow. As soon as a 
flame springs up, they place on it little twigs of very 
dry wood, and as soon as these have caught, sticks a 
little bigger, and then pieces of wood are piled over, 
until they crown the whole with the largest of all. It 
sounds ordinary enough, but the Barotse are astonishingly 
deft at it. I have seen an enormous fire obtained thus in 
less than five minutes. 

The natives about Shesheke are very great hunters ; 
in fact, hunting is one of the necessities of existence 
on the Zambezi. The elephant furnishes ivory, which 
is their means of procuring all sorts of merchandise ; 
other animals supply food and skins, which are the clothes 
of the country. 

Besides the private hunts every year, there are big 
hunts organized, generally under the direction of the 
Queen ; these take place some time after the cessation 
of the rains. At this period the whole of the country 
in the neighbourhood of the rivers is transformed into a 
vast lake, from the middle of which arise little islands 
where the game takes refuge. Then, accompanied by 
a numerous body of slaves and chiefs, the Queen goes 
to some village on the borders of the river. All the 



THE BAROTSE 

inhabitants and their canoes are requisitioned, and a 
certain number of the canoes surround one of the 
islands. Some of the men land and start the game, 
which take to the water, where they meet their death. 
Thousands of beasts are thus captured. They are then 
cut up, and the natives gorge themselves with meat ; 
what they do not eat is dried in the sun. Half the 
skins go to the King ; then the Queen distributes one 
or two skins to each chief and to some of the favoured 
slaves, and keeps the rest herself 

Fishing is carried on by means of nets or baskets. 
They also fish with a special kind of assegai. What 
fish they do not eat they preserve with salt, which 
is found on the Linyanti, about three hours' journey from 
Kazungula and also to the north of Shesheke. 

Agriculture is scarce, and rudimentary ; it resolves itself 
into the production of millet, maize, and peas. Women 
exclusively are occupied with field work. They use but 
a single instrument, the spade, and there is no irriga- 
tion of any kind. The results are proportionate to the 
methods, though the soil is good, and should be extremely 
fertile. 

One or two further fragments of raw material for 
anthropology, I was able to collect among these tribes. 
They have no knowledge of writing, though they make 
patterns on their utensils and engrave cleverly enough 
on wood and iron. They have no more definite 
standard of measurement than most other savages. To 
indicate the height of a person they stretch out the 
hand at a certain level ; to measure cattle they span 
the length between the tips of the horns. Distance is 
reckoned by pointing to the sun and mentioning so 
many days. They tell the time of day by the sun, 
but calculate long periods by moons. The new moon 
is the occasion of grand festivities. It is a general 
holiday ; men of all ranks sing and dance, while the 
women assemble apart and give vent to strident howls 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

of their own. They kill oxen, which they cook in the 
public places and begin to eat with the appearance of 
the moon. Their most fashionable instrument of music, 
besides the drum, is a kind of piano. On this they 
can really perform airs of a kind, and that in four-time, 
not five-time like the Arabs. The piano is often accom- 
panied by songs pitched very high, and sung through 
the nose ; the instrument consists of a square piece of 
wood hollowed out, on which are fixed a number of 
pieces of iron : it is played with both hands. 



||g|^^^^f|-- 




BOATS ON THE ZAMBEZI AT KAZUNGULA. 

Their boats, as I have said, are dug out of the solid 
trunk of a tree ; each one of them has a crew of five, 
the men rowing in a standing position, with oars about 
10 feet long-. 



86 



CHAPTER V. 

THE RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

WE were at the beginning of December, and the 
rains had started in right down earnest. My 
provisions were nearly exhausted ; their inventory did 
not take long to make. I found that one tin of corned 
beef, two tins of sardines, one ounce of salt, and 
lo lbs. of coffee constituted the whole of my stores. 
My worldly possessions consisted besides of six yards 
of unbleached calico and one pound of red beads. 
These were my trading goods. My wardrobe was not 
much more plentiful. I had the remnants of what had 
been two flannel shirts, two under-vests, three pairs of 
stockings — or rather of the legs of what had once been 
stockings — a pair of knickerbockers, patched up with 
samples of the various qualities of calico used in the 
interior, and a hat that my boy had carefully placed 
on the top of the fire to dry, a process by which one half 
of the crown had been reduced to cinders, and which I 
had been compelled to repair with a pad of cotton wool 
between two pieces of calico. I also possessed one gaiter, 
a broken pipe, and a very thin piece of " Pears' Soap." 
My only hair-brush and comb had attracted the kind 
attention of the rats, and they had left very little of 
them. Fortunately my razor was still in good order, 
for during the whole of my trip I always shaved every 
day, a beard being misery to me. In my saddlebags, 
which never left me, were my notebooks and the forty 
photographic plates that I had exposed and developed 
87 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

during my stay on the Zambezi. I had only reserved 
a dozen for the Victoria F'alls. My medicines consisted 
of half an ounce of quinine, and, if I add to this my 
photographic apparatus and my photographic tent, I 
shall have given a full description of my paraphernalia. 
No ; I must not forget to mention two blankets and a 
macintosh sheet that I used as my bedding. 

Under the circumstances I considered it imperative to 
make an early start before fever knocked me up 
altogether. I had hoped when I arrived at Shesheke to 
ascend the river to Lialui, the capital of the Barotse 
nation. But for this it was necessary to get permission 
from Lewanika. I sent a message to ask for it, but though 
I waited and waited it never came. 

The first question to be considered was that of porters. 
A good many natives constantly leave for the south 
in order to go and work in the gold and diamond mines. 
A dozen or so join together, and they are usually glad 
to escort a white man. However, when I tried to get 
some I found the greatest difficulty. In several instances, 
natives, emboldened by the meekness of the missionaries 
who had allowed themselves to be robbed and half 
murdered by their flock, thought that they would stand 
a splendid chance of doing the same with a solitary 
traveller in a solitary hut, with only a boy of twelve 
as a companion. Several times they tried their hand 
with me. I endeavoured to impress upon their minds 
that I was not a missionary, and that I should allow no 
natives to come and rob me, and, further, that any man 
who .should either threaten me or lift up sticks or assegais 
over my head would soon find himself a corpse. Judging 
these threats to be empty ones, one fellow broke out one 
night into my hut and only escaped after getting a sound 
thrashing. But he was determined to have his revenge, 
so that the next night he came to my place, and, setting 
a huge stone through the opening that served as window, 
dropped it on the structure I used as a bed. Fortunately 



RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

for me I happened to be out just at the time, and thus 
escaped being crushed, as the stone weighed some 60 lbs. 
Having my revolver at hand, I fired two shots on the 
author of this practical joke. The missionaries, terrified 
at my doings, were daily predicting that I would get 
them and myself butchered. They had long talks on 
the subject with their people, and thus got me the 
reputation of being a bad, cruel man, and the natives 
christened me " Ra-di-Tao " (the father of the lions) So 
that, when I wanted men, all were afraid to come with 
me. At last I managed to get together eighteen fellows. 
Remained to get food for five days, until I reached the 
Victoria Falls, where I hoped to get more. But while 
before this villagers constantly came to offer me food, 
now that I wanted some, none came forward. I sent 
a boy to try and get some, but he could only find 
about twenty pounds of mealies and twenty pounds of 
monkey nuts ; but to purchase these I had not enough 
calico. -I therefore went to M. Jalla and asked him 
to let me purchase from him a piece of thirty yards. He 
pleaded that he was short of goods, and would only let 
me have fifteen yards of damaged cloth. He also gave 
me about five pounds of mealie meal for my own use. 

On the 6th of December, just as I was going to start, 
boats from the King came to fetch me, and a most kind 
letter from M. Coillard, the French missionary at Lialui, 
was handed over to me. He invited me to share his 
hospitality, and offered to supply me with whatever 
trading goods I might require. This was most tempting ;. 
unfortunately, having no news from Major, who was 
alone with my waggon at Linokani, right in the middle 
of the Kalahari Desert, I dared not leave him alone any 
longer, and I reluctantly had to give up an excursion 
that would have entailed three months' more travelling. 
Therefore, on the 8th of December, I bade good- 
bye to M. and Madame Jalla, and I crossed the 
Zambezi en route for the Victoria Falls. Two ways lead 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

from Kazungula to the Falls — one along the northern bank 
of the river (this road keeps pretty far from the river and 
passes through numerous villages), the second through 
the forest, along the southern bank. For several reasons 
I chose the latter ; firstly, I knew that the chief of the 
village on the northern bank, near the Victoria Falls, 
was an old villain who demanded an exorbitant price 
for the loan of his boats, and having but a very limited 
supply of trading goods left, I ran great risk of being 
unable to cross the river ; secondly, the forest to the 
south being full of game, I hoped to kill a sufficient 
quantity to be able to dry it up and lay aside a reserve 
that would take me to my camp at Linokani, Unfortu- 
nately, there was a good deal of wind blowing when I 
crossed the Zambezi, and the fellow who was carrying 
my cartridge bag, in his hurry to bale out the dug-out 
canoe that was conveying him to the other side, dropped 
the bag in the river and I was left with five cartridges ! 
The day before I left Kazungula, a miserable, half-starved 
boy of sixteen came and implored me to take him with 
me ; he told me that he was a slave and had been bought 
by a native hunter established in Mr. Middleton's hut 
on the southern bank, adding that he was constantly 
beaten by this man and his wife. I engaged him and 
promised him my protection. I had hardly landed on 
the southern bank when I heard most awful howls. I 
rushed to see the cause of this and found Courteman, 
my rescued slave, tied up and the hunter beating him with 
: a stick. I ordered him to desist, but the hunter began 
to abuse me, declaring that the boy belonged to him, and 
that he would not let him go even if he had to shoot him 
to prevent his doing so. In answer, I ordered my other 
men to untie the boy and told him to march along ; 
thereupon the hunter caught hold of me by the arm and 
used the most abominable language. This was more than 
I could stand, so drawing my revolver I covered him, 
and declared that if he did not let go of my arm I would 
90 



RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

shoot him down. His wife rushed out of her hut with 
a gun, shouting " Murder " ; his other slaves appeared with 
sticks. I immediately collared my man and informed 
his wife that unless she put her gun down at once, her 
husband was a dead man. This calmed her, and soon 
order was restored. I then explained to the man the 
hideousness of his conduct, showing him what a good 
man I was not to take him with me as a prisoner to hand 
him over to H.M. Commissioner at Palapshwe for slave 
dealing. He fell on his knees and implored me to do 
nothing of the kind, and I magnani- 
mously consented to forgive him /*il|^; 
upon the production of a fowl. I - "^ -5^' 
am ashamed to say that had he {'^ ^ 
thought of bribing me with the offer / ^ 
of a second fowl I might have ,^'' ,^' .{'^ 
silenced my humanitarian scruples '^'f 
and handed back his slave. The 
latter, however, had thought it better 

to disappear, and I did not see him ^ 

again until late that night. He had 
spent the day hidden in the reeds. '^'^'^^ °^ matoka 

T r J J 1 r 11 r (Near Victoria Falls). 

i lound my donkey mil oi grass, 
and in splendid condition ; and at 3 p.m. I made a definite 
start in the pouring rain. We marched through long grass, 
and soon reached the forest, and at 6 p.m. halted for the 
night. The ground was most uneven, and the only flat spot 
I could find lay at the foot of a tree. I got some grass 
collected and my blankets stretched on the top of it. 
My porters, who all carried a fire stick, the end of which 
was covered with a reed to preserve it from the rain, 
had soon managed to light some fires, in the way 
already described. How they did it, with the wood all 
damp from the heavy rain of the day, seemed perfectly 
marvellous. I have often tried myself with dried wood, 
but always unsuccessfully. Joseph, my Basuto boy, who 
had not yet recovered from his fever, began to pluck 
91 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

the fowl, and I set to to roast some monkey nuts. 
The men put their meahes in their pots on the fire, and 
I was trying to dry my clothes when the rain began anew. 
It soon fell in torrents, putting the fires out, and the only 
thing I could do was to turn in between my blankets : 
and in the dark, starving with hunger, with the rain 
falling in buckets -full over me, I meditated on the 
vanities of this world and on the glory of African 
travelling. Soon, however, Joseph brought me a cupful 
of monkey nuts that he had rescued from the ashes. 
I tried to eat them, but the rain had made a cake of 
them and the ashes, and I had to give it up. I care- 
fully enquired after my precious fowl, and Joseph assured 
me that it was safe in the fork of a tree. 

I soon found that I was lying down in a hole where 
the rain collected, forming a pool, so that I had to move 
away. I could find no other place to lie down, so had 
to spend the night propped up against a tree ; and when 
morning came I looked a most disconsolate object. I 
was soaked through and half frozen ; my men had lighted 
a fresh fire, and were squatting round it shivering with cold. 
With what delight I swallowed a cup of boiling coffee 
that Joseph had just prepared for himself, I need not 
tell. I then thought of changing my shirt, the only article 
of clothing I had to change, so I told Joseph to bring 
the second and only other one I possessed. He produced 
a piece of hard pasty stuff. I asked him what he meant 
— what had been done to that shirt. It turned out that 
it had been washed with soap of my manufacture. Being 
short of soap, I remembered having read in a little book 
on travelling how to make soap. " Take," said the author, 
" some ashes, put them into boiling water, pour fat over 
it, and get an old woman to stir the mixture for twenty- 
four hours." I had followed the prescription ; I had 
got an old woman to stir up the stuff for twenty- four 
hours, and I had obtained a residue of rather nasty 
appearance which I had given to a boy, with which to 
92 



RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

wash my precious shirt; and this was the result! Whether 
the woman I had employed was not old enough or 
whether she did not stir the stuff during the twenty- 
four hours I could not tell, but there remained the fact 
that I was now reduced to one shirt, and a wet one at that. 
I gave the second to one of the boys. After a lot of 
trouble he managed to get it on, and it looked like a piece 
of antique armour after many fights. Although he wore 
it for over three months, without ever taking it off, it 
never looked more dirty than the first time he put it 
on, and remained quite as stiff. 

At 6.30 a.m. we made a start. There was no sign of 
a footpath, and we had to cut our way through the forest. 
We kept the Zambezi in sight the whole time, marching 
along the river fifty yards or so from it, as otherwise, had 
we kept along the higher ground upon which grows the 
forest, we should have had to climb constantly up and down 
the various ravines cut out by the small rivers running 
into the Zambezi. Our march was most difficult, and our 
progress very slow ; constantly we had to cross bits of 
swamp covered with high reeds, making use of the paths 
cut through them by the numerous hippopotami who come 
out to feed during the night. These ponderous beasts 
sink deep in the soft ground, so that one has to hop along 
on the bits of dry ground between the holes made by the 
hippos. During the whole of the journey we never had 
anything dry on us, as whenever the rain stopped we were 
equally wet through, the water dripping from the reeds, 
about 15 feet high, through which we had to wind our 
way. My unfortunate donkey was constantly falling into 
one of the holes left by the passage of the hippos, and 
it took the combined efforts of several men to extricate 
him. The second day of our march we camped on high 
ground near the river. Determined to try and sleep under 
a cover of some kind, I got the men to build a long shelter 
of branches. When this was finished they all spread 
along the forest in order to try and find something to 
93 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

eat. The instinct of these people is most marvellous. 
Guided by the honey-birds some of them always brought 
back some honey. Two kinds of bees are found along 
the Zambezi. One kind, very small, half the size of a 
common house fly, makes its nest in the hollow of dead 
trees : very little honey is found in these nests. Another 
kind of bee, the grey one I have described before, gives 
a most delicious honey. Some of it contains large 
quantities of red pepper, but as a rule it has a delicious 
flavour, quite different from that of our European honey. 
Others of my men used to bring back long black roots 
resembling a horseradish. These are the roots of the huge 
creepers that climb up the trees. When cut they are full 
of a milky and sticky juice, and their taste is very acrid. 
Others at times caught small tsipa, a striped animal half 
monkey, half squirrel. Turtles, of the land species, were 
pretty numerous. I caught a very large one nearly two 
feet long. Inside we found some eggs ; these were 
excellent, but the white, even after thorough boiling, 
remained transparent and gelatinous. I had some soup 
made of the flesh, and I scarcely ever enjoyed a better 
meal. This second evening was splendid, with a pure 
bright sky, and I thought that we should escape rain. 
Towards eight o'clock four hippos came gambolling 
within a few yards from the bank; but having, as I 
explained before, only five cartridges left, I did not want 
to waste a shot unless I felt certain of a bag. So I took 
up my position in a tree hoping that the hippos would 
come out to feed, when I should kill one on land, and 
thus get enough meat to last us a month. Shooting one 
in the water would have been useless, as a wounded or 
dead hippo always sinks, for a couple of hours at least, 
and it is necessary to have a boat to secure the carcass. 
I was disappointed in my expectations, as, having 
probably scented us, the animals did not come on 
shore. Towards 2 a.m. a terrible storm arose ; the 
shelter I had built was useless to keep off the deluge 
94 



RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

that fell over us, and when morning came the rain was 
still falling in torrents. To my dismay I found that the 
bag containing my few clothes had been left in a hole, 
and only the top of it appeared above the water. The 
natives hate travelling in the rain, almost as much as 
they object to walking in the sun, and nothing would 
induce my men to start while it lasted. One of them — 
the witch-doctor of the party — went through a curious 
ceremony. Taking a quantity of branches from a bush 
of a certain kind, he piled these over a huge log that had 
been burning against a tree and that the rain had not yet 
put out. The bush began to emit large volumes of 
smoke. Taking one of these smoking branches the 
witch-doctor shook it in the air, shouting, " Rain, rain, 
go away ; you are no good for men on the road ; go 
away, go away ! " This he repeated several times, and 
a few minutes later the rain stopped. He came 
triumphant to me and asked me what I thought of his 
wonderful power. 

During the day we came across the spoor of several 
lions, and we saw large herds of reedbuck and other ante- 
lopes ; but of course I could not fire a single shot, being 
compelled to keep my five cartridges in case of a night 
attack by a lion. That evening and night were as wet as 
the previous ones. The following day's march was chiefly 
through the forest, as we had to abandon the river-side, 
the banks being most precipitous. We passed several 
rapids, near which large herds of hippos could be seen ; 
these animals are very partial to quick-running water. 
The river in these parts is very imposing, being nearly a 
mile and a half broad. The next day we came again 
near the river and reached a native village. We found 
numerous monkeys of several species in the forest around 
it. The natives of this village brought us some dried 
plums of a peculiar kind (the stone adhering to the flesh, 
as is the case with all the fruit found in Africa), but 
asked such exorbitant prices for them — two yards of 
95 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

calico for each basket holding hardly over one pound — 
that I could not buy any. 

At the end of the fourth day's march we began to hear 
the noise of the Victoria Falls, although we were still over 
ten miles from them. The next morning we caught the 
first sight of three huge columns of what looked like 
steam rising up high in the air. The native name given 
to the Falls, " Musia Tunia " (cloud and noise), is most 
appropriate. Gradually as we approached the noise 
increased, and at last we reached the southern end of the 
Falls. Above them the river is over a mile broad ; the 
water boiled and rushed in a wild way. Right in front of 
us, between an island on the brink of the chasm and the 
bank where we stood, a huge mass of water, over a 
hundred yards broad, rushed madly along, then suddenly 
turning to the left seemed to disappear into the bowels of 
the earth. 

In order to see the Falls properly one has to turn round 
so as to get a view from the opposite side of the chasm 
into which they fall. After taking a cup of coffee I 
therefore decided to go and camp at the place where I 
could get the best view, as I intended taking a number of 
photographs. How fatal this decision turned out will be 
seen presently. We had to make our way through a dense 
forest covered with the most luxuriant vegetation, the 
place being constantly covered with the shower of water 
that drops from the columns of spray rising from the Falls. 

I find it an absolute impossibility to describe the Falls 
of the Zambezi. All that I had read about them and all 
the descriptions that had been given me had created an 
impression in my mind quite different from the real thing. 
I expected to find something superb, grand, marvellous. 
I had never been so disappointed. Of course, to anybody 
who passed half his existence in South Africa, like 
Livingstone, or who had never been out of his country 
before, like Serpa Pinto, it is possible that these Falls 
present a wonderful sight. But anyone who has travelled 
96 



RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

about in the world cannot help saying, " After all, other 
wonders of nature have impressed me much more than 
this." When reflecting a little on what had more struck 
my imagination, I could not help thinking of the Pyramids 
of Egypt, of the Taj of Agra in India, of the Temples of 
Rangoon in Burmah, and of those of Nikko in Japan. 
But I shall be told those are the works of man. Quite so. 
Let us take the works of Nature. Can one ever forget 




THE TOP OF THE VICTORIA FALLS FROM THE RIGHT BANK. 

the panorama of the Col du Geant in the Alps when seen 
on a fine clear day? What is more marvellous than 
the Bay of Naples, or more grandiose than the range of 
the Kinchunjunga Mountains on the frontier of Thibet in 
the Himalaya, or, again, the Yosemiti Valley in California? 
Or, to make a closer comparison, what spectacle is more 
imposing than the Falls of Niagara ? — the more you look 
at them the more you are compelled to wonder. The 
Falls of the Zambezi produce quite another sort of im- 
pression. It is hell itself, a corner of which seems to 
open at your feet : a dark and terrible hell, from the 
H 97 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

middle of which you expect every moment to see some 
repulsive monster rising in anger. 

The stream above the Falls is about 1800 yards wide: 
all of a sudden it disappears into a gulf about 130 yards 
deep and at most 100 yards broad. All the water that 
falls to the bottom of this chasm leaves it through a 
gorge just as deep and hardly 100 ft. broad. This gorge 
winds in and out for many miles towards the east, then 
gradually broadens until the river has resumed its normal 
course and proportions. It is only by means of a plan 
that it is possible to understand the topography. The one 
shown here is from Mr. Fry's survey, and conveys a far 
better idea of the place than any description. If it were 
possible to see the Falls in all their height and breadth, the 
spectacle would certainly be magnificent. But the water, 
hurled down from such a tremendous height, gets broken 
against the rocks and forms a current of air which sends 
up above the chasm a column of water — mixed with 
vapour — which rises to an enormous height and falls 
back again in the form of rain. At certain points the 
water pours on you in pailfuls. 

A few hours after my arrival I made my men build 
me a strong shelter of branches (about thirty feet long), 
hoping to pass several days near the Falls, that I might 
take a series of photographs of them, and, as far as 
possible, get out an exact plan. 

I went out to take some photographs, and as I returned 
to my camp I fixed up my photographic tent in order to 
develop the plates. I had just begun developing one of 
them when I experienced a feeling of faintness that 
gradually grew so strong that I had to abandon the plate 
I was washing, and had only strength enough to rush to 
the shelter and throw myself down on my blankets. For 
the next three days I was almost the whole time un- 
conscious with heavy fever. My servant Joseph had been 
feeding me with a little sour milk one of the men had 
bought from some native fishermen. The third day, when 



RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

I recovered my senses, I found that one half of my porters 
were also attacked with fever, so I determined to leave 
this pestilential spot and to move a few miles higher up 
the river. I was hoisted on my donkey, and, supported by 
a man on each side, I managed to reach a spot higher up 
and drier, where I found an old shelter. I then discovered 



^ 



VICTORIA FALLS 

BjrW. merton Yry 

O/ie Statute Mile 




G. Phdxp <& Son. 



PLAN OF THE VICTORIA FALLS. 



at the bottom of a bottle a few of Messrs. Burroughs and 
Wellcome's tabloids of Warburg's fever tincture. I took 
four of them, and half an hour later began to perspire 
profusely. In the evening I felt so much better that I 
decided to make a start the following day. My men told 
me that the natives whose villages were on the northern 
bank of the river could not be induced to bring us food, 
as there was a rumour that the Matabele were raiding in 
L.ofC. 99 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

the neighbourhood. Our only chance was therefore to 
push on towards Pandamatenga as speedily as possible, 
as this was the only place where we could hope to get 
food It took us three days to get there, over a most 
difficult country, very hilly, and with seven or eight rivers 
running at the bottom of deep ravines. All our food was 
exhausted, and during these three days we had to live on 
roots : we found a large number of thick black ones, very 
acrid, somewhat resembling horse-radish. It was with 
real delight that I caught sight of the houses, with the 
prospect of a real meal, of which I was greatly in want. 

As soon as I reached Pandamatenga I went to Henry 
Wall's house, some four miles from the old station. There 
I was most kindly received by the old hunter, who offered 
me a cup of milk and some slices of bread and butter, 
followed afterwards by a hearty meal : a splendid stew 
with a dish of young mealies that I shall never forget. 
I was delighted to hear that my pony was in splendid 
condition ; in fact, I found him with a glossy skin, looking 
better than he had ever done. When, however, I men- 
tioned that I wanted to purchase food for my party and 
myself, Henry replied that it was quite impossible for 
him to let me have the smallest quantity. He and the 
other hunters had been ill, and had been unable to do 
any cultivation that year, and they had not even enough 
to carry them through the summer, which corresponds to 
our winter — December to June. I offered to pay what- 
ever price he liked to mention, but in vain, and all he 
would promise was to send me a small basket of lo lbs. 
of wheat to make bread for myself This was serious 
news. My camp was nearly 300 miles away ; with the 
exception of coffee I had no provisions whatever, and we 
had been living on roots before reaching Pandamatenga. 
Even marching hard I could not possibly get to my 
camp under fifteen days. Counting my men, Joseph, and 
myself, I had twenty mouths to feed, and putting down 
our daily allowance at the smallest amount necessary to 
100 



RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

keep body and soul together, one pound of grain per man 
per diem was the least we required. This meant 300 lbs. 
I had to get. I mounted my horse and returned to my 
men in a most dejected frame of mind. In the afternoon 
Henry came over to me. I had put up in the abandoned 
station of Westbeach,* and we discussed once more the 
question of food. He declared that he could not spare me 
a single pound of grain, but added that he was bringing 
me the side of a sable antelope that one of his men 




THE ZAMBEZI ABOVE THE FALLS. 



had just shot. I immediately got the meat cut into 
strips and hung up to dry. 

Early the next morning I saw a dark-skinned, 
corpse-like European coming from the south. He was 
accompanied by a little black girl about twelve years 
of age, who was a most distressing sight ; her bones 
literally protruded through the skin, and both were 

* Pandamatenga was originally a Jesuit Mission Station. When it was 
abandoned, Westbeach, an English trader, took up his quarters there, but 
after his death the place was abandoned and was used as a store by the native 
hunters of Westbeach, who remained on the spot. 
loi 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

ravenous. I had just had some soup made out of the 
meat given me the day before, and after they had 
been comforted a bit, I tried to find out their history. 
It was rather peculiar. It appears that a few months 
previously a caravan of Mambari (native traders from the 
West Coast) came to Lialui, the capital of the Barotse. 
With them was a Portuguese, accompanied by two boys 
and two girls. He stated, through the men of the 
caravan, that he was a colonel in the Portuguese army, 
and wished to go to Zumbo, the westernmost Portuguese 
station on the Upper Zambezi. He had no trading goods, 
and possessed only a Martini-Henry rifle and ammuni- 
tion. Lewanika — the King — declined to send him to 
Zumbo, but in exchange for his Martini-Henry supplied 
him with a boat and food to take him down to Kazun- 
gula, also giving him an old matchlock gun. M. Coillard, 
the French missionary, gave him a letter for M. Jalla, 
at Kazungula, asking him to try and send him down 
to Palapshwe by some waggon when one should be going 
down there. On the way down the river, while the boat 
party was camping on the shore, lions came during the 
night and carried away the two boys. Ultimately he 
reached Kazungula with the two girls, aged respectively 
twelve and eight, his wives, according to his statement. 
He was given a hut and food, and during the month 
he spent there, he was constantly firing his matchlock 
without any reason, and behaving in a most eccentric 
fashion. M. Jalla was therefore glad to get rid of 
him when the waggon that had brought Mr, Vollet from 
Bechuanaland returned south. 

His story of what had happened since, was the follow- 
ing. The driver of the waggon had daily ill-treated 
him ; had threatened to take away his wives, until, 
terrified, he ran away from the waggon when they reached 
the Makarikari Salt Lakes, taking with him his wives, 
his matchlock, an enamelled plate, and a small basket- 
ful of mealies. He then retraced his steps towards the 

I02 



RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

north. The food supply was soon exhausted, and his 
wives, these children of twelve and eight, began to be 
unable to go on. Fortunately he came across a party 
of natives who gave him an old spear and a little mealies 
in exchange for his matchlock. Very soon the small 
girl was unable to proceed, and she died. Here the 
fellow, with tears in his eyes, gave me a most appalling 
description of how he had been compelled to dig a grave 
with his hands. After that he had had to carry on his 
shoulders the other girl, until he was picked up by some 
of Henry's hunters. 

I confess that I felt full of pity for the poor fellow. 
Although I did not credit the whole of his tale, I could 
not help thinking what an awful position his was — a 
European alone, friendless, foodless, in the middle of 
Africa. I gave him one of my three pairs of stocking 
legs (the feet had been worn to shreds) and half a yard 
of calico, and I divided with him the half-ounce of 
quinine 1 possessed. I then made him what I considered 
to be a most liberal offer. If he was willing to leave 
the little girl he called his wife in charge of Henry 
Wall, who consented to take care of her, she would 
be sent down to join him by the first waggon going 
to Palapshwe. In the meantime I would lend him my 
donkey, and take him down in this way to my waggon, 
sharing with him my scanty stock of food. When I 
reached my waggon I would give him some clothes, 
take him to Palapshwe, and there give him ;^5 in order 
to enable him to communicate with his Consul and await 
the help that the latter might send him. He thanked 
me, called me " Excellencia," and his father, and other very 
touching names that I did not understand. But later on 
in the day, when Henry Wall came to take charge of 
the little girl, my Portuguese friend said that before 
starting he should like me to sign a contract. " A 
contract," I said ; " what do you mean ? " " Yes, your 
Excellency must write clown his promises; that he will 
103 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

give me a suit of clothes, a Martini-Henry carbine, and 
500 rounds of ammunition plus one hundred thousand 
reis (about i^2o) when we reach Palapshwe, and then 
I shall be his Excellency's slave, and shall never leave 
him." I was dumbfoundered. " Why, man," said I, 
"are you mad? I don't want you. When you reach 
Palapshwe you can write or wire to your Consul ; and 
it strikes me that you do not realize that what I am pro- 
posing to you is a great favour." " No contract, no go ; 
me no want Consul, want contract," was his reply in broken 
French. This was too much for me, and I told him to go 
to a place said to be still warmer and more dreary than 
the Kalahari Desert — if such a thing is possible. 

All this had made me forget the more important subject 
of food. A great misfortune occurred during the day ; a 
heavy shower of rain came, and the meat that had been 
hung up to dry, got soaked, and I much feared that it 
would soon rot, which duly happened. In the afternoon 
I saw a native bringing on his head a huge basket full of 
mealies — about 60 lbs. I went to him and asked him 
whether this was for me. " No," he replied ; " I am 
bringing this for the men who look after Henry's cattle." 
I assured him that he made a mistake, and as he would 
not be convinced I drew my revolver. At once he 
dropped his basket and bolted. I hurriedly got my men 
to pack up my ill-gotten food, and without waiting for 
explanations gave the signal to start. How I was to 
cover the 300 miles that separated me from my camp 
was a question that I dared not consider. 

It was a real comfort after so many hardships to be 
once more on a horse, and I expected to be able to 
proceed at a brisk pace and to reach my camp in twelve 
or thirteen days. 

However, we had scarcely been two hours on the road 

when I felt an intense lassitude creep over me ; I felt cold 

and could hardly resist falling asleep. I soon started 

vomiting, and got so weak that I could not proceed a 

104 



RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

single step further. I dismounted, and lay down there 
and then, among a mass of small sharp stones. In vain 
did Joseph implore me to come on a little further, where 
we should find a better camping-ground ; I declined to 
move, and could not even be induced to lie on my 
blankets. Joseph covered me up with them, and I was 
told afterwards that I was delirious the whole night. 
In the morning I woke up with all my limbs aching ; but 
we had to go on, as not a single hour could be wasted. 
When we camped that evening I had the food brought 
to me, and after carefully measuring it, I found that there 
was just enough to allow each man one quarter of a pound 
of mealies per day, the smallest amount sufficient to keep 
alive men who had to cover twenty miles daily, in heavy 
sand. This bare allowance would, I calculated, just last 
twelve days, after which we should have to starve. 

I began to feel violent pains in the left shoulder and 
in the knees, with daily attacks of fever ; quinine brought 
on instant vomiting, and shortly afterwards I was un- 
able to get on my pony without assistance. For a man 
who is suffering from bilious fever and the beginning of 
rheumatic fever, to ride twenty miles daily on half a cup of 
boiled mealies, and to sleep in the rain day after day, is not 
exactly the treatment I should recommend. Daily I got 
worse. On Christmas Day I reached Gerufa Vley. A poor 
Christmas dinner I had — a handful of boiled mealies and 
a little honey my men found. All night the hyaenas kept 
us awake. The next morning we came across the corpse 
of the poor little girl whose death and burial my Portu- 
guese had so dramatically described. The corpse was 
scarcely decomposed ; part of it only had been eaten by 
the animals, and the face showed signs of intense suffering, 
so that it was evident that the scoundrel had abandoned 
the child to die of hunger and thirst. A further proof of 
this was that we found traces of the spot from which she 
had dragged hersel 
piece of palm fruit. 

105 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

I was riding ahead of my men when, all of a sudden, 
I found numerous fresh spoor of oxen, and a little further 
on I caught sight of several ponies. I hurried on and 
found two waggons ; these belonged to an American and 
an English officer, and I rejoiced to think that at last 
I should get something to eat and sufficient provisions 
to take me to my camp. How I was to be disappointed 
will soon be seen. I was greeted most cordially by the 
two travellers, who had heard about me. They asked 
me to breakfast, but I was so done that I could hardly 
eat, and only enjoyed a cup of coffee with sugar and 
milk. How delightful it seemed also to smoke a 
cigarette. I explained to them the terrible plight I 
was in ; but, although they condoled with me, no offer 
of help was forthcoming. Putting pride aside, I asked 
them to give me a few tins of preserved meat and sundry 
jorovisions to go on with. What was my astonishment^ 
nay, my disgust — when the American, the owner of the 
waggons (the British officer only accompanied him as a 
companion) excused himself on the ground that their 
tinned provisions were at the bottom of the waggons. 
Then I begged for at least a little flour. " Well," said 
the American to his companion, ' you might give him 
a couple of pannikins of meal." The Englishman took 
me to his waggon, and gave me about four pounds of 
Boer meal. He also gave me about a pound of sugar, 
and begged me to accept a packet of cigarette papers 
and a good supply of tobacco — his own property. He 
was so ashamed of the shabbiness of his companion 
that he apologised for it. " You see," he said simply, " all 
the things here are his own, and I can't dispose of 
what isn't mine ; but I 'm disgusted." This is the only 
time during the whole of my African experience that 
I have found a white man unwilling to assist another 
white man. I should have done more for a starving 
native than he did for me ; in fact, I often have. How 
many times have I been pressed to accept the half of 
1 06 



RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

the scanty provisions or clothing of a European, an 
utter stranger whom I met for the first time ; and how 
often have I done the same, and rejoiced to be of use 
to one of my fellow creatures. There is no room for 
churls in Africa. 

But enough of this. I shall not quote the name of 
this young American, a man of wealth, who started with 
grand plans : he was going to reach the Congo from the 
Cape, and, like many others, stopped short at the first 




TRAVELLING IN THE KALAHARI. 



difficulty. That evening I slept near Watcha Vley, 
feeling too bad to go any further that day. When I 
awoke the next morning I found that my legs could not 
carry me any longer. The pains in my knees and general 
weakness increased every day, and I had to be hoisted 
by four men on to my pony. I suffered real agony in 
the saddle, and, in order to remain on horseback the least 
possible time, I adopted the following system. Early in the 
morning I used to start ahead, and holding hard to the 
pommel of my saddle, go at a brisk pace until I reached 
a pool or until I had ridden for four or five hours. I then 
107 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

used to let myself drop down, tie up my pony to a 
stump, and await my men. Several disagreeable incidents 
happened to me in this way. One day I had started 
ahead for my afternoon march. Towards 5.30 I reached 
Tamakaliani Vley, and after securing my pony I crawled 
under a shelter I had built on my way up. All of a 
sudden I heard the roar of a lion : it seemed to be quite 
close by ; my pony was shaking with fear, and trying 
to break the reins by which I had fastened him to a 
tree. His master, I confess, was not less afraid. I only 
had a revolver, and I was helpless. Looking round I 
caught sight of the lion a quarter of a mile away, fanning 
himself with his tail and already rejoicing at the good 
meal he was going to enjoy. With what longing I 
looked at a tree that was close by ; I made a desperate 
effort to rise, but in vain. Being unable to do any- 
thing else I remained still, but I felt most uncomfort- 
able. Then it struck me that the lion would probably 
prefer a well-fed pony to a half-starved, bilious, fever- 
stricken, tobacco-stinking piece of humanity like me : 
and I awaited the course of events. A few minutes 
later — minutes that seemed hours to me — my men came 
along singing, and the lion disappeared. That night 
we made big fires all round the camp ; but although 
we heard the lion once or twice, he did not come to 
disturb us. 

Another time I had to cross a huge plain, at the 
end of which a big palm tree stood as a landmark. 
The waggon track made a long detour to the left, so 
I thought of taking a short cut : the sun was broiling 
hot, and when I reached the middle of the plain I 
suddenly noticed that the palm I was making for was 
swinging round. I understood that I was pretty near 
fainting, and had to brace myself up, as, had I fainted, 
my men, who were certain to follow the waggon track, 
would not have failed to go on, thinking that I was 
ahead ; and therefore I stood a good chance of feeding the 
108 



RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

wild beasts. At last I reached the palm tree, and pushed 
on ahead until lo a.m. I let myself drop under a shady 
tree, and, having fastened my pony to a stump, went to 
sleep. When I awoke I looked at my watch ; half-past 
eleven and no sign of my men; I felt certain that they 
must have passed on without seeing me — a foolish idea, 
considering that my pony was tied up within a couple of 
yards of the path ; but my fever-worked brain did not 
realize this. I waited a quarter of an hour, half an hour ; 
no one. I made up my mind to go and look for them, 
so, crawling on all fours, I approached my pony. This 
frightened him ; he backed, broke the stump to which he 
was fastened, and started away. Well knowing how 
difficult it was to catch him, once loose, and how apt he 
was to stray away, I determined to catch him myself, as 
had I lost him, I should have been unable to go any 
further. So I crawled on all fours towards him ; with 
the pains I suffered in my knees this was agony. At last 
I got within two yards. I stretched out my hand to seize 
the reins, but at this moment off he started and went 
fully fifty yards further, when he stopped to graze. Once 
more I went after him, crawling on my belly this time. 
My hands were torn by the bush and . thorns, but I 
managed to get within a yard of him ; I was just going 
to grasp the reins hanging on the ground when off he 
went as before. The strain on my nerves was such, my 
position seemed so desperate, that I sobbed violently like a 
child. I was nearly 1 50 yards from the road, too weak to 
get back there, and running the risk of being left behind 
should my men pass on, which they might do at any 
moment. I was in this uncomfortable state of mind 
when I noticed that my horse had caught his hind fetlock 
in the reins and was unable to move on any further. He 
lugged and pulled and shook his head ; would the rein 
stand the strain ? I trembled at the thought of its giving 
way. Once more I braced myself up, and taking a piece 
of wood as a support I dragged myself like a snake 
109 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

towards the horse. At last I secured him ; but there 
remained to get on his back. I threw the snaffle reins 
over his head, and then seizing hold of the stirrup 
managed to haul myself on to my knees. I then caught 
hold of the mane with one hand and of the saddle with 
the other, and with a desperate effort stood on my legs, 
the sweat pouring from my forehead. I then caught 
hold of the off-side stirrup leather and hoisted myself 
half-way up the saddle ; then, catching the girth, I gave a 
shove forward ; the saddle turned, but I lay across the 
back of the pony. I then managed to lift my right leg 
over his hind quarters, dragging it over with my right 
hand. At last I was mounted. But another difficulty 
arose ; the sun had disappeared behind clouds, and having 
no compass I had not the faintest idea where the path lay. 
I remembered having noticed three palm trees near the 
place where I had gone to sleep, and I now looked for 
them ; but to the right, to the left, and behind me were 
three different groups of three palms. I decided to try 
them all. My first attempt was a failure, but at last I got 
to the road. No men were to be seen. I tried to 
discover their spoor. No fresh spoor was visible in the 
sand — where could they be ? It was now one o'clock, and 
they ought to have been here by ten at the latest. I was 
about to start back, when one of them appeared. I had 
not had a drop of water since six the previous night, and 
with the exertions I had just had to make I was almost 
unable to speak through intense thirst. The man who 
had just appeared carried two calabashes, and I asked him 
for water. He tapped one to show me that it was 
empty, and declared that he had no water. I was 
so desperate that I threatened to shoot him if he 
did not bring the other calabash at once. Frightened, he 
hastened to produce it, and I drained the hot, muddy 
contents, nearly one gallon, that tasted like nectar to my 
parched lips. The whole caravan soon turned up ; it 
appeared that they had stopped to cut down palms, the 



RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

young shoots of which gave a pretty good food. They 
gave me some, and it tasted Hke the very best of celery. 
The poor fellows had so little to eat that I had not the 
heart to abuse them for their delay, and we started 
again. 

That same evening I had to quiet a small rebellion. 
Improvident, like all natives, they grumbled when I dis- 
tributed the small daily ration. One of the Barotse — the 
reigning tribe of the Upper Zambezi — declared that they 
were superior to the others, who were but slaves, and that 
therefore they should have double rations. I told them 
that they should have nothing of the kind, as myself— the 
big master and a white man — was satisfied with the same 
ration as my men. Thereupon the fellow seized the 
calabash, containing what remained of the food, and 
was making away with it, when I ordered Joseph, my 
Basuto boy, to catch hold of him and to bring him to 
me. Seizing him by his necklace, I told him to beg 
pardon on his knees. I was myself on my knees. But, 
instead of doing so, he seized an assegai near at hand. 
Before he could lift it up I had dealt him a violent 
blow on the face, and he dropped stunned. The men, 
who thought me half dead, were much astonished at 
the result, and the defaulter came and humbly begged to 
be forgiven. I took this opportunity to warn the others 
that they had better never attempt to threaten me, as I 
should not hesitate to shoot any man who did so. I 
explained to them the wonderful power of my revolver 
by firing five shots at a tree ; having never seen a 
revolver, they were perfectly astounded, and never gave 
me any trouble after that. 

On New Year's Eve we reached the Nata drift, but 
the water being utterly unfit for drinking purposes I 
pushed on to the next camp, close to the salt-pans. I 
got there once more ahead of my men and dropped down 
from my pony close to a pit, but when it came to drinking 
out of it I found myself in great trouble. The hole was 
III 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

about two feet deep and two feet wide. I tried to put 
my head in it, but only managed to get my forehead in 
the water, and made so much sand fall in that I had to 
scrape it away gently before the water reappeared. I then 
tried to put my two hands in it as a cup, but once more 
the sand covered the little water at the bottom before 
I had managed to reach it. It never entered my head 
to get a straw to suck it through, Bushman fashion, and I 
spent two hours alongside the tantalizing fluid until my 
men came and I got a cup. Grass was collected under 
a tree, and I lay on it. When I sent for the food to 
distribute it, to my horror I discovered that there was but 
one day's rations left, and we were still one hundred miles 
from my camp ! There was nothing to do but to march 
on as hard as we could go. Accordingly, after a couple 
of hours' rest, I got hoisted once more on my pony, but I 
was so exhausted that I immediately fainted. My men 
put me back on my improvised bed, and it was not till 
late at night that I recovered my senses. I had a violent 
fever, and was unable to think of anything ; in fact, I felt 
pretty certain that the next day would be my last, and 
my thoughts centred into one, "Que diable suis-je venu 
faire dans cette galere ? " 

The next day — New Year's Day, 1892 — it was evident 
that the state of my health made it absolutely impossible 
for me to proceed any further. After having well studied 
the situation from every point of view, I decided on the 
following plan : I would kill my donkey, whose flesh I 
would dry in the sun, then I would send my servant 
ahead with my pony and sixteen of my men till they 
got to my camp. I would only keep two men by me, 
on whom I could depend. As soon as my servant got 
to the camp, Major (the man I had left in charge) was 
to come to me on horseback, as quickly as he could, 
bringing some provisions for me. 

Meanwhile I hoped that my health would improve with 
rest, although the place where I was was not very favour- 
112 



RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

able, seeing that I had to sleep under a tree which hardly 
protected me from the sun, and that I had only muddy 
water to drink. The flesh of my donkey would partly 
suffice to feed my servant and his caravan, and 1 would 
keep the rest for myself and my two men. Ten days, 
at least, must pass before help could come. 

What I most feared was to lose consciousness, and to 
be buried alive by my escort under the impression that 
I was dead. This idea no doubt was due in great 
measure to the state of my mind, arising from my 
feverish condition — but the thought was none the less 
disagreeable. 

I was just about to put my plan into execution, and 
sacrifice my poor donkey, when a native caravan appeared 
on the scene, accompanied by a transport waggon. This 
was an embassy of King Khama, returning from a mission 
to the King Lewanika. I soon concluded an arrangement 
with the chief of the expedition, who agreed for a sum 
of money to carry me to my camp in his waggon. I was 
then lifted in by four of my men and placed on the top 
of a pile of bales of all kinds. I cannot be sufficiently 
thankful for the kindness that was shown me by these 
natives. Although very short of provisions themselves 
they shared their food with me. My poor men were 
less lucky, and when we arrived at my camp, at Linokani, 
for three days they had eaten nothing. I cannot possibly 
describe what I suffered during the six days that this 
journey lasted — every shake of the waggon seemed to 
break my pain-stricken limbs. The day after my arrival 
I was very annoyed to find that two of my men failed 
to answer to the roll-call. Since my departure from the 
Zambezi they had always lagged behind, arriving at 
camp after the others. I was told that for three days 
no one had seen them. I im.mediately sent some men 
with provisions, to try and find them, but no trace of 
them was ever discovered. Evidently they must have 
died in some bush — a habit of natives and wild beasts. 
I 113 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

They must certainly have died of hunger, for that part 
of the desert was absolutely uninhabited. 

When we reached Linokani I was " unloaded " from the 
waggon and carried into a good hut, that, according to 
my orders, Major had built, with the help of Bushmen, 
during my absence. In this hut he had made a bed 
by sticking posts in the ground and stretching cross-pieces 
of wood over them ; with a thick layer of grass this 
made a very good bed. I gave orders to distribute four 
pounds of flour to each one of my men, and then asked 
Major for news. 

The first he gave me was good : the oxen I had left, 
with the exception of two that had died, were in splendid 
condition. Twelve fresh oxen had been sent to me, and 
had arrived a fortnight previously ; some of them were 
good, but most were old animals worth nothing. Then 
came the bad news. While the new oxen were being tried, 
my waggon tent had once more been carried away by a 
branch — one of the reasons why buck waggons ought 
never to be taken for such expeditions ; then the tyres 
had become perfectly loose — a very common occurrence 
with most waggons except Weddeburn's ; last, and worst 
of all, myriads of rats had attacked my goods, got fat 
on the flour and sugar, and not content with this had 
destroyed most of my trading goods : incredible to say, 
they had even nibbled at some bars of lead ! It could 
not be helped. 

I now considered ways and means to effect my 
return. Oxen I had, but I had no leader, and what was 
more serious, no driver. Major, who had suffered greatly 
from pains in one of his arms, was utterly unable to use 
it now, in fact it was almost shrivelled up. I therefore 
suggested his making arrangements with one of the 
Bamangwato, in whose waggon I had just been brought 
back, and we- soon struck a bargain. Reims had to be 
looked after, and fresh skeys to be made, so I decided to 
start four days later. 

114 



RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

While these arrangements were being made Joseph had 
prepared dinner, and he soon brought me some corned 
beef, with boiled peas, bread, and a smoking cup of 
coffee with milk. How I enjoyed this dinner; how I 
enjoyed smoking a cigarette afterwards ! Only those who 
have known what it is to starve for a month can understand 
my feelings. Then it began to rain ; how delightful it 
was to see the rain falling, and not to receive it all 
over me. It seemed incredible at first, and I had to pass 
my hand over my face to realize that I was not getting 
soaked through. I really felt then that life was worth 
living to enjoy such luxuries. After a thorough wash I 
put on a clean shirt, real socks — not only the legs — and 
a pair of trousers without holes. Never did I feel more 
proud of my appearance, not even when I donned my 
first dress suit. 

The day after my arrival I was drinking a cup of 
coffee on my bed when a rat fell down on my blankets 
from among the logs that formed the wall of my hut ; 
the beast looked scared, and instead of making a bolt 
of it, kept shrivelled up and looking upwards. Looking 
up myself to find the cause of its extraordinary behaviour, 
I noticed a huge snake partly hanging down above my 
head. Unable to jump out of bed I let myself roll down 
and hurriedly crept out of the hut, calling out to Major to 
come and kill the beast. Major accordingly took an 
assegai and stuck the serpent through the head ; but in 
its dying convulsions the snake spat in my servant's face, 
a distance of over five feet, and some of the venom went 
in his eye. I immediately washed him with boracic acid, 
and told him to go on washing himself with the lotion.* 
He suffered a good deal of pain the whole day, but 
towards evening all inflammation had subsided. During 
two months no symptoms of any injury manifested them- 

* I have heard of other similar cases, and I found that the eye ought 
to be washed at once with a solution of ammonia (i part ammonia to 50 
of water) introduced into the eye. 

J15 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

selves, but at the end of that time they broke out, as 
I shall have to relate later on. 

Four days after my arrival, everything being ready, we 
made a start. I shall not describe our return journey for 
the reason that I spent the whole time stretched in my 
waggon. Every day, when we had outspanned, I used 
to be pulled out of it, trying to make use of my legs ; and 
after twelve days, when we reached the Lechaneng Vley — 
it had taken us nearly a month to get to Linokani from 
this spot on our way up — I was able to walk about a 
dozen steps with the help of a stick. My intention 
was, on arrival at Palapshwe, to get rid of my waggon and 
oxen there, then, taking the first post-cart to Macloutsie, 
to remain in the hospital there until I should have re- 
covered the use of my legs. I then intended going down 
to Pretoria by post-cart, and thence home via Natal and 
Zanzibar. 

Not wishing to appear a miserable invalid on my arrival 
at Palapshwe — I hate to have people pitying me — I 
donned, the next morning, my best pair of breeches and 
field boots ; and having been hoisted on my pony, I 
rode, for the third time, over the terrible road that leads 
into Palapshwe. 

On my arrival I went to the hut of the officer who had 
lately been appointed Resident, Captain Carr Ellison. I 
found him outside his hut and told him my name. " Are 
you coming to look for your missing relative ? " said he. 
I informed him that I was the missing relative, and he 
looked rather astonished to hear that I was not dead, 
as reported. I declined to dismount — knowing that I 
should not be able to remount — and promised to call on 
him the following day. When I returned to the usual 
outspan, I was most astonished not to see my waggon 
there. I felt certain that it had come to grief over that 
disgraceful bit of road, and started off in search of its 
remnants. Just two hundred yards further, near the first 
hut of the village, I found it ; the oxen were outspanned ; 
ii6 



RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

on the box sat the driver, a Bible turned upside down in 
his hands. . 

I asked Major why he had stopped. " Well, you see, 
Master, your driver is one of Khama's Christians, and 
I could not persuade him to come inside what he calls 
the town ; as one of Khama's men he is awfully frightened 
of his chief, and says that the latter would be certain to 
fine him if he came inside the town on the Sabbath. 
Now you see he reads his Bible upside down, but it 
does not matter ; and," added Major, who was very sharp, 
" the other day, while we were outspanned, he saw some 
natives coming, and hurried to get his Bible, but unable 
to find it he picked up one of your books, and pretended 
to read it." I was much amused, but less so when I had to 
pay 23. for a fowl worth everywhere else, outside Khama's 
territory, about 2d. ; but then probably Khama's fowls, 
being reared among Christians, are worth more than others. 

The next day we came to the usual outspan, and there 
I witnessed a most amusing scene of animal intelligence. 
My donkey Jack used to follow the waggon like a dog. 
When we started he had probably been in search of some 
dainty morsel, and a few minutes after we had outspanned, 
he came along. Seeing a waggon he cantered towards 
it and stopped. This was not my waggon, but one belonging 
to Mr. Lloyd, a missionary, who has since written a book 
to refute what I said about Khama in a London paper. 
Jack began to examine it — the waggon, not Mr. Lloyd — 
and soon discovering his mistake, came to his own 
lodgings. In the middle of the patch of swamp close 
to which we stood, several horses were grazing. For a few 
minutes Jack looked at them, then, after braying in the 
most desperate fashion, started at a mad gallop towards 
a white pony some two hundred yards off. When he got 
to it he rubbed himself against it ; both animals began 
to lick one another, then rolled down together and lay 
literally in one another's arms. I discovered afterwards 
that this was a pony that had belonged to a man I had 
117 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

travelled with, and had always been Jack's particular chum. 
They had not seen each other for months, but Jack 
had at once spotted his old friend. But the most curious 
part of the performance was to come. After lying down 
together for a few minutes they got up, and Jack began 
to examine in an inquisitive fashion the head of his 
friend, then started licking him on the eye, soon braying 
in the most heartrending fashion. I discovered afterwards 
that the pony had had an eye put out since we last saw 
him, and there is no doubt that the donkey expressed his 
sorrow for his friend. This donkey was the most intelli- 
gent animal I ever had in my possession. 

Anxious to return to Europe without delay, I en- 
quired about means of transport. I soon heard that 
the Macloutsie post - cart had left the day before 
my arrival. I then enquired about the oxen that 
had been sent to my camp while I was on the 
Zambezi. I heard that they had been sent, at the request 
of the French Consul at the Cape, by the Bechuanaland 
Trading Association, and that £<^ apiece had been 
charged for them. Considering that, at that time, the 
best oxen were worth £6, and that four out of the 
twelve that had been sent, ranged between 12 and 15 
years of age, I found that a little too much advantage 
had been taken of the fix I was in. But better still 
followed. The next day the manager of this Company 
sent me a bill for 15s., for petty expenses connected with 
the cashing of the money, being the cost of a wire sent 
to know whether the French Consul was good for the 
amount. This, of course, I declined to pay. Then wishing 
to get rid of the whole of my outfit, I went to see the 
manager, and asked him to take back the animals. He 
replied that to oblige me he would do so, and offered 
me ;^3 per head ! I was offered £a,o for a waggon that 
had cost over £\20. Disgusted, I made up my mind 
to leave Palapshwe ; fresh meat and rest had worked 
wonders with my health, and I decided that, rather 
118 



RETURN THROUGH THE DESERT 

than make a present of the waggon and oxen, I would 
get some use out of them. 

So that, to everybody's astonishment, four days later 
I started for Matabeleland. 

" Why, have you not had enough of it ? " asked someone 
of me. 

" No," I replied ; " I am only just at the beginning of 
my trip." 

I little thought then, that a couple of years later, I 
should still be at it, and that I should find myself in 
Uganda. 



119 



^ CHAPTER VI. 

TO BULAWAYO - 

ON the 27th of January, 1892, 1 left Palapshwe at sunrise. 
I had fancied that no worse road than the one leading 
from Lechaneng Vley could be found, but I soon dis- 
covered that the road to the Lotsani river was ten times 
worse. In fact, to this day, it is a wonder to me how 
a waggon can pass over the place without falling to pieces. 
It is disgraceful that a man like Khama, who poses as 
having advanced ideas, should let the approaches to his 
village remain in such a condition. Instead of spending 
thousands of pounds on the building of a cathedral for 
the use of one-tenth of his subjects, whose prayers would 
be quite as welcome to the Lord if they came from a less 
grandiose building, the chief could, with very little expen- 
diture, have rendered what he calls his capital approach- 
able, and thus conferred a lasting benefit on the whole 
of his people, to say nothing of the white men. But 
we know that these count for so little, in Khama's 
estimation, that he does not trouble about them. To 
return to the so-called road : imagine a series of huge 
polished slabs of rock forming a gigantic staircase, with 
steps two to three feet high ; throw over these, boulders 
five to six feet in diameter, and you will have an idea of 
the place. Over it the waggons must pass for a distance 
of nearly three miles. The oxen at each moment fall down, 
breaking yokes and skeys ; the waggons are shaken by 
epileptic-like convulsions, and, however well fastened may 
be the goods on them, these at each minute fly in all 
120 



MATABEl 




MATABELE and MASHONA LAndS 

Scale.lt 5,000.000 , l_ , \ 




BeorgeJTtOip i SanSZ FleeL StJE.C 



Published bi/ Methuen di; Co., London. 



TO BULAWAYO 

directions. At the foot of the hill you find heavy sand, 
until you reach the Lotsani river, about six miles from 
Palapshwe. 

We arrived there at 9 a.m. and outspanned. I then 
went with Major and Chick we, a Zambezi boy, to see if the 
river could easily be crossed. I found it hardly thirty 
feet broad, but with a precipitous bank on the offside. 
Just then, some natives started crossing it : muddy water 
was rushing down at a great speed, and the natives formed 
a human chain, holding each other by the hand before 
getting into .it. These precautions seemed superfluous, 
but I soon discovered how necessary they were ; the fore- 
most man soon got water above his chest, and it was all 
he could do to keep his legs, so powerful was the current. 
Two- girls who were in the party were carried bodily off 
their legs, and only saved from drowning through the pre- 
caution I have described. Unfortunately in their struggle 
their clothes that they had not removed — consisting of a 
piece of calico tied round their breast— got disentangled, 
and floated away. Great was the ladies' dismay — and, 
unwilling to appear in a state of nature before a white 
man, they could not be induced to get out of the water. 
Shortly, however, the cold got the better of their modesty, 
and getting out of the stream they rushed, screaming and 
laughing, towards some reeds. There another girl took 
them some skins she had borrowed from their male com- 
panions, and they proceeded on their way to the town. 
Getting my waggon across with such a depth of water 
and such a current was out of the question ; and it was 
well I did not try, for in the evening, an empty native 
waggon, having attempted the passage, got swept away 
and rolled over, two of the oxen being drowned. During 
the night more rain fell, and the next morning the river 
was fuller still. I planted some sticks in the mud to mark 
the rise or fall of the water, but during the whole day 
it remained pretty much the same. All the afternoon 
we suffered terribly from the attacks of millions of vicious 
121 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

flies, resembling our common house fly, but with a most 
painful sting that they managed to inflict through the 
thickest of clothes. 

In the evening my pony showed alarming symptoms 
of poisoning. His belly was greatly swollen, his legs 
icy cold, and he lay down in great pain. I had him 
rubbed hard with Elliman's embrocation, and after three 
to four hours of treatment he had quite recovered. This 
medicine is one of the most useful I know, and to its use 
I owe, myself, the recovery of the use of my legs after 
my hardships in the Kalahari. "Horse" embrocation should 
be used for men : the " General " is too. weak. I attributed 
the poisoning of my horse to his having eaten a kind 
of tulip abundant alongside the rivers of this part of 
the country. Some months later, Mr. Weil lost in this 
way three out of four beautiful salted mules ; their 
symptoms were exactly similar to those my horse 
suffered from. 

The next morning at sunrise the river had fallen 
eighteen inches, and by lo a.m. there remained but two 
feet of water in its bed. We therefore started to cross it. 
We experienced considerable difficulty in doing so, the 
banks being, as I have said, most precipitous and slippery. 
We passed that day a good many fields well cultivated 
by Khama's people ; but after that, until we reached 
Tati — about one hundred miles farther — we came across 
no sign of human habitations. With the exception of a 
few steinboks, we saw no trace of game ; guinea fowls 
were, however, pretty numerous. 

After suffering as we had done in the Kalahari from 
the want of water, we now began to suffer from the other 
extreme. Daily we encountered terrible storms, and 
the numerous rivers we came across were much swollen 
and gave us a deal of trouble. 

On the 1st of February we reached the Mothloutsie* 

* This river, called the Macloutsie near the Crocodile, is called the 
Mothloutsie further up. 

122 




2 ^ 



w| 



TO BULAWAYO 

river — the frontier of Matabeleland and Khama's country 
— near which we found an outpost of the B.echuanaland 
Border Pohce, usually known as B.B.P. This was a mere 
picket of three privates and a corporal. Their quarters 
consisted in a bell tent, outside which they had manu- 
factured a table out of pieces of wood stuck in the 
ground, supporting a frame of small branches. They 
presented a most ludicrous appearance, as, having no 
scissors, they had shaved their heads. They very kindly 
offered me to share a cup of coffee with them, an offer 
I readily accepted. I was most astonished, talking with 
them, to find men of such brilliant conversation. The 
privates were men between thirty and forty. One of 
them knew all about the London Law Courts, and it 
was easy to see that he had an intimate knowledge with 
the best London Clubs. The other had travelled through 
the whole world, and the Royal Navy had no mysteries 
for him. The third was well acquainted with India, and 
mentioned several incidents that had occurred in a 
native State while I was there myself I discovered 
afterwards that I had met a broken-down barrister, a 
cashiered naval officer, and an ex-captain of a crack 
Indian regiment. The corporal himself was a young 
Boer farmer. The number of men who are hiding their 
misfortunes or disgrace under the uniform of the B.B.P. 
corps is astounding ; but whatever may have been their 
past career they were a fine body of men, plucky and 
well disciplined, ready for anything in exchange for the 
pay of six shillings a day they drew for their services — 
and they fully earned their money. The corps was a smart 
one, and their smartness was chiefly due to their admirable 
commanding officer, Colonel, now General, Sir Frederick 
Carrington, a grand soldier, beloved by his men and his 
officers. 

I had just finished my coffee when the corporal advised 
me not to lose any time crossing the river, as we could 
notice a heavy fall of rain towards the north, and the 
125 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

river swells up with extraordinary rapidity although its 
bed is nearly 300 yards broad. The warning came just 
in time, as we crossed over some two feet of water, and 
a few hours later over six feet of water was racing down 
the stream. 

We outspanned on the opposite bank, and one hour later 
my herd-boy came to report that my pony was lost. I at 
once despatched all the men in search of it, but in vain, 
and it was only due to the great kindness of the policemen, 
two of whom started on horseback, that I recovered it. 
The country is there covered with dense bush, and the 
men cannot possibly keep the animals in sight. The only 
way to avoid such mishaps is to fasten a bell on the 
neck of the leader of your ox team — the oxen always 
keeping together. The ponies ought to be tied up by 
a long rope to a peg and moved along every half hour 
or so. 

Two days later we reached the Shashi river, over 400 
yards broad, with high steep banks on the northern side. 
I rode across before getting the waggon in the water, 
and, finding but two feet of water in the bed, gave orders 
for the waggon to proceed. When we reached the middle 
of the stream we got stuck into soft sand, and the water 
driving more sand against the wheels we got seriously 
fast. On we whipped the oxen, then we yelled, screamed, 
and howled, but to no effect. First a skey broke, then 
a yoke, then another skey. In the meantime the water 
was rising rapidly, and things were assuming a serious 
look, when at last the waggon began to move. On we 
went, and now I thought that we were out of the difficulty: 
the front oxen were within twenty yards of the bank and 
we were moving on nicely when I saw one of my Zambezi 
boys, who was leading the team, disappear under the water, 
followed by the two leading oxen. I pushed my pony 
towards the scene of the mishap, when the two leading 
oxen, having regained their legs, turned sharply round, 
pushed my pony, and upset me in the water with the 
126 



TO BULAWAYO 

animal on the top of me. I was soon up, soaked through 
of course, and I tried to discover the cause of the mishap. 
Right in front of the bank was a huge hole five feet deep 
and about fifteen feet broad. I caught hold of the two 
leading oxen myself; but no sooner did they lose their 
footing than they turned wildly back, rushing among 
those behind, knocking one of them over, and entangling 
themselves in the chain. Cursing and swearing, my boys 
rushed to the rescue ; six skeys and one yoke were broken, 
and while we were hurriedly changing these, the water 
was still rising and nearly reaching the inside of the 
waggon. We had a fresh try, but again we broke skeys ; 
the driver's whip was carried away by the current and 
we could hardly keep our legs, so strong was the rush 
of water. The waggon was shivering all over, and it 
looked pretty well as if it was going to be carried away — 
not an uncommon occurrence. At last, I heard crackings 
of a whip, and caught sight of a waggon that had just 
arrived on the northern bank. I rushed to the driver 
and asked him for the loan of his team. He was a Boer, 
and, obliging like all the people of his race, answered 
that he would help me for two pounds. 

" All right, man," I said ; " come on." 

" No, you pay first," was his quiet reply. 

So I rushed back to my waggon, got the money, arid 
a few minutes later his team was hooked on to mine. 
Six of his oxen were on the bank, and having a good 
purchase of the ground began to set the waggon in 
motion. To my intense relief ten minutes later it stood 
on the top of the bank. It was none too soon, as half 
an hour later the water had risen another four feet, so 
that nearly eight feet of water was rushing at the rate 
of ten miles an hour down stream, and had I not secured 
this unexpected help my waggon and team would have 
been rolling down towards the Limpopo river. 

As it was, all the goods had to be off - loaded 
and put out to dry, as the whole of the cargo at the 
127 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

bottom of the waggon had been soaked. Several bags 
of flour, sugar, and salt had been completely melted or 
ruined. The next morning had to be spent in making 
fresh skeys ; we had still a big river to cross — the Tati — 
before reaching the settlement of that name, and as we were 
only six miles from the place I decided to ride ahead. 
Just as I was going to leave I saw a policeman coming 
on horseback with despatches for Captain Scott, then 
on his way to Bulawayo, and we started together. When 
we reached the Tati river we found it full of water. It 
is pretty wide, being between 400 and 500 yards, and 
expecting that we should have to swim, I removed my 
boots ; the water, however, was only three feet deep, and 
we got across all right. We soon passed some ruined 
buildings, near which stood an old portable engine — how 
it was brought up there seemed a wonder — and at last 
we arrived near a corrugated iron store. 

Out of a hut came a young man in knickerbockers, who 
asked me to dismount. 

" I have a few friends here," he said, " and we are having 
a bit of refreshment : will you join us ? " 

I readily accepted, and as we were going towards the 
hut he enquired who I was. 

" Decle is my name," I said. 

He stared at me from head to foot. 

" What, are you Decle, the scientific Johnnie ? " he then 
asked. 

" Well, I am Decle ; as to being a scientific Johnnie," 
I said, laughing, " I cannot claim the title. I have been 
sent out by the French Government to collect documents 
for scientific men, but I am a very great ignoramus — at 
least so far as science goes." 

When we entered the hut I found a collection of lively 
fellows sitting on tables, chairs, and boxes ; on the table 
stood a respectable number of empty Heidseck bottles. 

" Why," exclaimed Farley, my host, " here is the great 
savant we have heard of"; and having introduced me to 
128 



TO BULAWAYO 

Captain Scott, Major Maxwell, and other officers who 
were there, he apologised for the empty bottles that stood 
about, adding that he supposed that I was a member of 
the Blue Ribbon Army, but at the same time filled up a 
tumbler and handed it over to me. 

It was quite a treat to taste once more a glass of 
champagne, and first-rate champagne too, after months of 
putrid water. 

I found out that Captain Scott and his companions 
were going to see the big dance— the great yearly festival 
of the Matabele, on the first moon of February, when 
15,000 warriors gather round Bulawayo and go through 
all sorts of military evolutions. Of course I was most 
anxious to accompany the party, but Farley informed me 
that no one was allowed to go to Bulawayo without the 
King's previous leave. Farley promised to write at once ; 
but no answer could come before twelve days at least, 
which meant my arriving when the dance would be over. 
In the meantime he invited me to stop as his guest ; and 
more kind, liberal, and genial hospitality I never received. 
My host hearing that my waggon was coming' up, 
at once sent a team to help it over the Tati river, and 
in the meantime we adjourned to lunch. Besides the 
B.B.P. officers and our host, the indefatigable manager of 
the Tati Company, were two of the assistants and an 
American, MacDowell, amalgamator at the Monarch Gold 
Mine, some 35 miles up the Tati river. He had been 
cowboy, miner, speculator, and what not, had the most 
inexhaustible stock of fun, and kept us in roars of 
laughter. Champagne flowed, songs followed, and when 
we adjourned to Farley's house we found an organ, on 
which our host was no mean performer. 

How delightful it was to me, after these months of 
hardships, of solitude, to find myself among such genial 
fellows, with every kindness lavished on me. I have not 
forgotten, and shall never forget, my reception there. 
But let it be said, this was but one of the many instances 
K 129 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

when I have received the most unbounded and kind hos- 
pitahty. In fact, looking over the three years I spent in 
Africa, I can only remember two exceptions when I have 
been treated in a different way by white men, and in both 
cases those who treated me badly were not Englishmen. 

When I left Palapshwe I had only just recovered from 
the severe attacks of rheumatic and bilious fever that had 
laid me so low in the Kalahari Desert. The soakings 
I got in the various rivers we had* to cross to get to Tati 
now began to tell on me, and I soon got prostrated once 
more with bilious fever ; but I was so well looked after by 
my kind host that I soon recovered. 

Major Maxwell, who had remained behind awaiting, 
like me, Lo Bengula's leave to proceed to Bulawayo, then 
proposed that we should go and visit the Monarch Gold 
Mine, some 35 miles up the Tati river, where the mining 
operations of the Tati Concession were being carried on. 
Farley kindly lent me a light covered waggon, and we 
made a start. Three days later we reached Monarch, a 
considerable settlement, where great activity prevailed. 
On the way I was struck with the extreme beauty of 
the country we crossed. Well watered, well timbered, 
with magnificent grazing grounds, a perfect climate, the 
country seemed admirably suited to farming, and, with 
the exception of Matabeleland proper, I consider that 
no more valuable property than the immense territory 
of the Tati Concession is to be found south of the 
Zambezi. 

On our arrival at Monarch we were most kindly received 
by the manager and his staff. I found my friend Mac- 
Dowell ready to spin any amount of fresh yarns, and I 
struck up a real friendship with the assayer and chemical 
expert, a German named Kessler, a most able mining 
engineer. 

After a couple of days we heard that the King's leave 
had arrived, and we accordingly returned to Tati. There, 
Farley insisted upon my leaving my cumbersome buck- 
130 



TO BULAWAYO 

waggon behind, lending me his Hghter and more com- 
fortable covered waggon. He also offered to take charge 
of four of my oxen which showed signs of sickness, 
and on the i8th of February we were ready to make 
a start. My personnel consisted of Major, my faithful 
headman, a Mangwato driver, and eight of the Zambezi 
boys who had come with me from Kazungula. Just as 
I was going to leave, all these Zambezi boys declared that 
they were not going to Bulawayo to be sold as slaves or 
killed by Lo Bengula. The natives of the Zambezi, it must 
be remarked, were then in a mortal terror of the Matabele, 
who used to constantly come and raid their country. In 
vain I explained that under my protection they ran no 
risk ; they would not listen to anything. I then declared 
that of course I could not and would not compel. them to 
go, but that under the circumstances I should not pay 
them any of the wages that were due to them. So great was 
their terror of Lo Bengula that they preferred to lose their 
wages rather than to face the terrible King of the 
Matabele. I was in a fix, having no leader for my 
waggon, so back I went to Farley, and he managed to 
find me a Matabele, who consented for ten shillings a 
month to act as ox leader. Of my Zambezi boys, 
Courteman alone — the slave I had rescued when I left 
Kazungula — consented after much pressure to accompany 
me. Major Maxwell had gone ahead, and later in the 
afternoon I joined him half way between Tati and the 
Ramokwebane river. 

In the evening I opened a tin of potted fish, and not 
caring much for the taste of it I gave it to our men. 
Major Maxwell's driver finished it all, and very soon 
began rolling about in terrible agony ; his body was 
covered with kinds of huge blisters, and he showed every 
sign of poisoning. At once I administered an emetic 
(mustard and water), and relieved him a little, but he 
remained very ill during twenty-four hours. I was soon 
taken myself with violent vomiting, and I subsequently 
131 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

got a fresh attack of bilious fever that lasted nearly 
four days. I was so bad that Major Maxwell insisted 
upon my returning to Tati ; but I declared that I should 
do nothing of the sort, and we went on. I take this 
opportunity to warn all travellers against potted fish ; 
I have had three instances of poisoning through it* 

After crossing the Ramokwebane river the appearance 
of the country changes altogether. We trekked between 
numberless small kopjes consisting of huge boulders 
piled one on top of the other, on which grow chiefly 
euphorbus and aloes. 

Nine miles further, near the 'Mpakwe river, we camped 
near some ruins of very ancient date, which I proposed 
examining in detail on my return. Until we reached 
the Mangwe river we found no trace of inhabitants, but 
there we met a good number of Makalaka natives, the 
original inhabitants of this region before it was conquered 
by the Matabele. 

The following day we reached the Shashani river, which 
runs at the bottom of a wild gorge amidst the wildest 
scenery I have ever met in Africa. As far as you can 
see rise jagged hills (the Matopo), consisting of enormous 
boulders piled on the top of one another. I find the 
following entry in my diary : — 

" From all accounts war is bound to break out sooner 
or later with the Matabele ; if this ever happens the 
campaign will be a most serious one. The country is 
most difficult, and would afford splendid cover for the 
enemy. Artillery would be practically useless, and the 
war would consist of a series of guerilla skirmishes. The 
natives with their knowledge of the country, and being 
able to retire into caves when beaten, could constantly 
harass the invading army, and mounted infantry would 

* As I do not wish to have a libel action I will not quote the name of the 
maker whose provisions were of such inferior quality, but I may say that I 
recommend strongly the use of Fortnum and Mason's, Brands', and Cross and 
Blackwell's provisions. They are excellent and quite safe. 
132 



TO BULAWAYO 

be the only corps of any use. If British regulars are 
taken to Matabeleland fifteen thousand men at least 
will be required. Every inch of the road will have to 
be guarded, and each convoy will have to be escorted 
by a strong mounted force ; and even so the general who 
brings the campaign to a successful issue will deserve the 
highest credit. Rapidity of movement is the only chance 
of success in such a country." This was written in 
February, 1892. 



I 2 3 

(i) Farley. (2) The Author. (3) MacDowell. 
ON THE WAY TO BULAWAYO. 

How the Chartered Company, with only two thousand 
volunteers, managed to crush the Matabele is known to 
every Englishman, and I can only say that it is the most 
brilliant episode of Colonial warfare that has taken place 
during our generation. If anybody answers that the 
Matabele were not crushed, and points to the recent 
revolt, then I can point him back to this entry. I was a 
wholly unprejudiced man, writing before the event. Even 
taking the two wars together, I think the success of the 
Chartered Company has been brilliant and astonishing : 
the more so as it has had lately to contend with the 
133 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

Rinderpest — a crushing handicap which I did not at this 
time foresee. 

Nothing of importance happened on our journey to 
Bulawayo with the exception of two accidents to Major 
Maxwell's waggon. His driver, who was in a permanent 
state of drunkenness, and his leader, who was completely 
mad, tried their best between them to smash the waggon ; 
and whenever the poor Major walked a couple of hundred 
yards ahead, either to shoot a bird or else to take some 
exercise, we used to hear tremendous yells, and turning 
round we usually noticed the waggon right in the middle 
of the long grass, jammed against a tree or down a huge 
hole. Unfortunately when the Major himself took the 
management of affairs even worse luck used to befall 
him. He once managed to get in a bog where two 
of the wheels altogether disappeared, and only with 
the help of my team did we manage to extricate the 
waggon. 

Another time, just before reaching Bulawayo, crossing 
a drift the Major managed to pass over the only bad 
place in it, with a clean drop of four feet on a rock 
in the bed of the river. I was in the waggon at 
the time. Down it came with a flop ; the next minute 
I was on the top of one of the oxen, and when I regained 
my feet I could not help bursting out with laughter when 
I saw the Major perfectly crestfallen, staring at the wreck. 
The desselboom or pole was smashed, and considerable 
other damage done, and it took us a good many hours 
to repair the concern — an old rickety spring waggon that 
its owner considered only equalled in beauty by the Lord 
Mayor's state coach. 

Twelve days after leaving Tati we reached Bulawayo. 
Never was I more disappointed in my life. 

Imagine a huge plain extending for miles, with only 
two or three trees rising above a short miserable-looking 
grass, all over which were strewn human bones, the rem- 
nants of Lo Ben's victims. In the distance rose a flat- 
134 



TO BULAWAYO 

topped hill, Thaba Induna — the Hill of the Induna, so 
named because a number of induna (generals) were once 
put to death there. On the left was a rise, on the top of 
which could be seen the tips of a stockade — Lo Bengula's 
kraal. In the middle of the plain were three groups of 
miserable tumble-down native huts, half a dozen of which 
stood together surrounded by a reed fence. These were 
the habitations of the only three European settlers in the 
place. Mr. Colenbrander, the Agent of the British South 




Africa Company, occupied one of these groups of huts, 
Rennie Taylor and Boyle another one, and in the third 
was Jim Dawson's store. 

A terribly cold wind was blowing and never stopped 
during the month I spent there, and all I can say is 
that it gives me the shivers to think of the dreariness 
of what Bulawayo was in 1892. This was five years 
ago ; and when I now read descriptions of churches, hotels, 
'35 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

clubs, and what else, that have since grown out there, 
just as in a Drury Lane pantomime a palace rises out 
of the ground by the stroke of a magic wand, I cannot 
help thinking what a great and marvellous man is the 
magician who worked this wonder. As Mr. Stanley is 
the greatest African Explorer, so Mr. Cecil Rhodes stands 
out as the greatest African Statesman that ever existed, 
and their names will live for ever in the history of what 
once could be called the Dark Continent, but which has 
now been turned into the land of the future by two of 
the greatest men of this century. 

I drew up my waggon near one of the only two trees 
that stood in the middle of the plain, and I sent my driver 
with the oxen to bring a thorn tree in order to make 
a thorn enclosure round my camp — a very necessary 
precaution if one did not wish getting one's waggon 
looted. 

Having given these orders, I was soon joined by Major 
Maxwell, who took me to the huts occupied by Mr. Colen- 
brander, the agent of the Chartered Company, to whom 
I presented the letter of introduction Mr. Cecil Rhodes 
had given me for all the officials of the Chartered 
Company. I was most cordially received by Mr. 
Colenbrander and his charming wife, and they invited 
me to come and take my meals with them, and to 
make use of their quarters so long as I should stay 
at Bulawayo. They apologized for being unable to give 
me a' hut, but they were themselves very short of 
accommodation. 

I could not help admiring the pluck of Mrs. Colen- 
brander : a most remarkable woman, fearless of danger, 
a splendid rider, a capital shot, and possessing the 
knack of doing what she liked with the natives, 
most difficult to handle, and who would have been too 
glad to seize the slightest pretext to assault an unpro- 
tected lady. But many a time I have seen her, in her 
husband's absence, turn out two or three stalwart natives 
136 



TO BULAWAYO 

drunk and most threatening ; more than once she had to 
seize her gun and to threaten to use it. It was a pleasing 
sight to see these savages, who rather despised most white 
men, quail before this plucky British lady. She had 
considerable influence over Lo Bengula. Often when 
she visited him she used to sit boldly on his throne 
(an old wooden chair) ; a sacrilege that would have cost 
any man's life. But the old African chief used merely to 
laugh. 

" What funny people you white men are," he used to 
say, "to bend before a woman. If }ou were my wife," 
he used to add, turning to Mrs. Colenbrander 

" Well," she usually interrupted, " if I were your wife I 
should make you do what I liked. I should be the 
King of the Matabele, and you— well, you would be my 
husband." 

Then Lo Ben used to roar, and grant what she had 
come to ask for. Through her man)^ a difficulty was 
smoothed down that might otherwise have become most 
serious. 

I was most anxious to see the famous Lo Bengula of 
whom I had heard so much ; he was then away at a kraal 
some six miles from Bulawayo, and Colenbrander sent 
messengers to ask him to grant me an audience. In the 
meantime many were the stories I heard about him, and 
from all accounts he appeared to be an eminently wise 
and far-seeing man. Until the occupation of Mashonaland 
by Mr. Rhodes's pioneers, he had held his people with an 
iron hand ; understanding that his young men wanted , 
some outlet to their over-exuberant spirits, he used to 
send yearly expeditions to raid neighbouring tribes, 
Mashonaland being their favourite raiding-ground. In 
this way his power soon extended far and wide, and 
all the Mashona chiefs acknowledged his rule. These 
raids had also the advantage of preventing conspiracies, 
a thing he was most afraid of For that reason he would 
never allow any of his subjects to own or use waggons, 
137 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 



ploughs, or labour-saving implements. When asked why 
he prevented his people from benefiting from these im- 
proved machines, his answer showed a wonderful knowledge 
of human nature. 

" You assure me," he would reply, " that by the use of 
these machines one man would do the work now per- 
formed by five men : then you see, while one worked the 
four others would be conspiring against me — and I won't 
have that." 

Another time, being taxed by a missionary with killing 
too many of his people, he 
replied : 
^P^^- - " Well, I should like you 

to sit in this chair " (point- 
ing to his throne) " for a 
week, and we should see 
then if at the end of that 
time you would not have 
; killed more than me ; un- 
I less, what is most likely, 
you had been killed your- 
self It's all very well for 
you white men, who have 
gaols with iron bars, not to 
kill people ; but here if I 
locked up my people they 
would enjoy eating without any work to do. As it is, 
they must either obey or else die; besides, if I locked 
up a thief for a year, wouldn't he still be a thief when 
he was let loose ? " 

While I was in the country I heard many tales of what 
we should call in England his cruelty. For instance, 
once he ordered his waggon driver — the King always 
used waggons for travelling — to cross a river at a certain 
drift. This involved a rather long detour, so the driver 
did not obey his orders, and took the short cut. The 
river was very full, and waggon and oxen were carried 
138 




A RINGED MAN. 



TO BULAWAYO 

away, the driver only, escaping with his Hfe. The King, 
informed of this, sent for him. 

" So," he said to the trembhng driv^er, " so you have 
disobeyed your orders, and you have lost my waggon. 
Very well, you shall go and look for it, and when you 
have found it you can bring it back." 

He then got the fellow's hands and feet tied together 
and had him thrown into the river. 

Another time a man met a party of girls carrying 
pots of joala (native beer) for the King. The man asked 
the girls to let him have a sip, but they declined, 
informing him that it was the King's beer they were 
carrying. 

" Never mind," said the fellow ; and, seizing a pot, he 
drank some of the beer. Lo Ben sent for him, and when 
he appeared, said : 

" So, my friend, you have very big ears ; but it seems 
that they are so close that you cannot hear well with 
them, as you did not hear yesterday when you were told 
that the beer you drank was mine. Then you have also 
a tongue that will be fatal to you one of these days, 
for you let it run in the most foolish fashion. I shall 
therefore have these obstructions to your welfare re- 
moved." And forthwith he had the man's ears and 
tongue cut off. 

Some months before I came to Matabeleland, one of Lo 
Ben's indunas (generals and chiefs of villages) came 
and told the King that one of the tributary chiefs 
of the Makalaka country was getting too big for his 
shoes. 

" Why," said the informer, " he goes about in a 
waggon, dresses like a white man, and says to all 
comers that he does not care a bit whether you dislike 
it or not." 

" Well, well," said Lo Ben, " take an impi (army corps) 
and wipe him out." 

This consists in surrounding the village at the dead of 
^39 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

night. Next morning, at early dawn, the warriors invade 
the place, kill the chief, all the men, the old women and 
babies, capturing the young women and children between 
eight and fourteen years of age, and seizing the sheep, 
goats, and cattle. The latter are handed over to the King 
as his perquisite, and each warrior usually keeps the other 
booty he has made. 

So the chief was duly " wiped out," with some three 
hundred of his people. 

Unfortunately some months later the King discovered 
that the information on the man's doings was a pure 
fabrication, and immediately a fresh impi was sent out 
to " wipe out " the informer in his turn. Altogether this 
cost over five hundred lives. 

While I was in Bulawayo Lo Ben sent out an impi 
to kill a chief and his family. The induna entrusted with 
the work thought that he would be very clever, so 
having hidden his men far away from the village he 
marched in alone, and told the doomed induna that the 
King had sent for him and told him to come back with 
him. The induna not having a very clear conscience 
readily agreed, but said that he would go into his hut 
and fetch some water for the journey. The other waited 
outside. But after half an hour's time, finding that he 
was being kept waiting too long, he went inside the 
hut and found it empty. The village was searched, but 
in vain. The other had bolted. 

In great dismay the induna sent word to Lo Ben to 
explain matters, and to ask what he should do. The 
King replied that he had sent him to kill the other fellow, 
and that until he had killed him he need not show his 
face back in his village, adding that if he was too long 
over it — well, he (Lo Ben) might lose patience and have 
him killed instead of the other. 

After two months' search they managed at last to 
secure their man and to carry out the King's justice (?). 

While I was in the Makalaka country the enormous 
140 



TO BULAWAYO 

village of Impandini was "wiped out," over five hundred 
people being killed ; my ox leader, who was from that 
village, just escaped death, being then away with me. 

I could multiply these stories ad infinitum^ but I 
have quoted enough to give an idea of Lo Bengula's 
character. 

One native, however, managed to get the best of him 
in a rather clever way. This was Jose d'Araujo Lobo, 
commonly called Matikania, of whom I shall have a good 
deal to say later on. Matikania, when Lo Ben was still 
a young man, came to purchase some ivory. While the 
bargain was being concluded Lo Ben took his friend 
aside : 

"You are a clever man," he said, "and you know a 
lot of things. Now tell me, how do the white men make 
these beads t " 

" Oh," said Matikania, " this is a great secret that I 
purchased for a lot of money, and I could not possibly 
tell you. I know myself how to make them, and all these 
you see I made myself" 

Lo Ben insisted, and at last offered Matikania a lot 
of ivory for the secret ; and the latter, having extracted 
a promise of absolute secrecy and a considerable amount 
of ivory, produced a handful of large beads. 

"Now," he said, "you must plant these in the ground, 
and for a year exactly, as the sun rises and when the sun 
sets, they must be watered. At the end of the year 
they will have grown into many thousands of small 
ones. But if once only you forget to water them at the 
proper time no result will be obtained." 

So they were planted ; but whether they were not 
watered carefully enough, or whether he was swindled, 
Lo Ben never knew until many years later, when a 
missionary enlightened him. Since then Lo Ben often 
invited his friend to come and pay him a visit, but 
Matikania was not foolish enough to let himself fall 
into the hands of his " friend." Wise man, Matikania. 
141 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

Two days after asking for an audience I received word 
that the King would receive me the following day. Early 
in the morning we set out on horseback, Colenbrander and 
myself, towards the King's kraal. We soon came in sight 
of a huge kraal surrounded by a strong palisade of tree 
stumps about fifteen feet high. 

All round hundreds of beautiful cattle were grazing. 

Having entered the kraal we came to a first enclosure 
full of natives, where we left our horses. We then 
entered a second enclosure, about 150 feet long by 90 
feet broad — the royal enclosure. A few low huts 
stood on one side — the Queen's houses — and in the 
middle of this kind of yard were two waggons which 
formed the King's favourite domicile. 

In front of one of these waggons stood a kind of giant, 
enormously stout, but broad in proportion and quite 
naked but for a number of monkey skins that hung 
from his girdle. A piece of coloured material rolled 
into a rope was wound round his body, passing below 
his breast and round his waist ; but so stout was the man 
that this entirely disappeared under the folds of his skin, 
and could only be guessed by being noticed when he was 
seen sideways. 
y^ He wore an enormously brimmed soft felt hat. He 
held his head erect and looked at you from his great 
towering height (he was 6 ft. 3 in. at least) with such an 
air of command that it was impossible to mistake him 
for anyone else, and it could be seen that he was 
accustomed to command, and to be obeyed. 

I have seen many European and native potentates, 
and, with the exception of the Tsar Alexander, never 
have I seen a ruler of men of more imposing appearance. 
He came forward and shook hands with Colenbrander 
and myself Having asked Colenbrander to explain the 
object of my visit, Lo Ben, after being told, enquired 
what I wanted. 

Through Colenbrander I replied that I wanted nothing; 
142 






LO BENGULA. 



TO BULAWAYO 

I had merely come to visit the country and to see the 
great Lo Bengula, of whom I had heard so much. 

"Bah," said Lo Ben, "what does he want? Leave 
to shoot in the country ? " 

" No." 

" Now this is a He," retorted Lo Ben ; " no white man 
ever comes here who does not want something out of me." 

"Well," said I to Colenbrander, "tell him that as I do 
not want to give him the lie, I shall ask for something " ; 
and pointing to some lion skins hanging on the stockade, 
" ask him to give me one of these." 

" You can have one," replied the King ; " but they are 
all moth-eaten " — which was true. 

Some indunas thereupon came in, and, after saluting 
Lo Ben, squatted down around him. He began to talk 
to them, listening to two conversations at one time, and I 
took this opportunity to look round. 

Lo Ben was sitting on an old champagne box, nervously 
shaking one of his legs the whole time. Crowds of 
natives were pouring in continuously, and as soon as they 
reached the opening leading into the royal enclosure, they 
threw themselves flat on the ground, shouting " Nkosi 
[chief], Ithlabantu [eater of people], Lion of lion, Stabber 
of heavens, Great black calf, Thunderer" — and other 
terms of praise. Crawling on all fours, the natives 
one by one approached the royal presence, and then 
after a last loud salutation they squatted down in a 
circle round him. 

The inside of his waggons was most extraordinary 
to behold. All round hung skins of all sorts of animals 
and birds, more or less freshly killed — all for making 
medicine, i.e. witchcraft, which was one of Lo Ben's 
chief daily occupations. 

In former times, before he became chief, he used to 

wear European clothes, but from the moment he ascended 

the throne he discarded these, and always stuck to the 

national costume of monkey skins, with the exception 

L 145 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

of the large felt hat described before. In doing so 
he gave another proof of his extraordinary good sense. 
That Lo Bengula never wanted the war, that he knew 
that he would be beaten in the long run, is quite certain ; 
but he could not control his young men, and was forced 
into the adventure that cost him his throne and his life. 

Soon after, more natives having come and the chief 
being busy, we took leave of him and returned to 
Bulawayo. 

I remained about one month in the place, suffering from 
incessant diarrhoea, and being, indeed, seriously ill. While 
I was there, Mr. and Mrs. Helm, the missionaries of Hope 
Fountain, came to pay a visit to the Colenbranders, 
and kindly asked me to come and recruit at Hope 
Fountain — an offer I gladly accepted. 

So, a few days later, I prepared to make a start. I 
purchased an old spring waggon from Mr. Bo3de, my 
headman, Major, assuring me that it would never 
reach Tati. 

The day previous to my departure my pony looked 
out of spirits, but did not seem particularly ill ; the next 
morning he was feeding all right at 8 o'clock, but one hour 
later Major came to fetch me and said that the pony 
was very bad. I went to look at him and found him 
lying down, evidently in great agony. I got him well 
rubbed with Elliman's embrocation ; he tried to rise, 
but fell down, tried to rise again, but fell once more, 
then gave a few kicks, and died. Half an hour later a 
quantity of froth was issuing from one of his nostrils, 
one of the signs of " horse sickness," that terrible disease 
that has carried off many a good steed in Africa. Poor 
fellow, he had undoubtedly saved my life, as without him 
I should never have been able to return from the Zambezi 
across the Kalahari. After surviving so many hard- 
ships that we had shared together, he had died in 
miserable agony. I confess it, I felt awfully cut up at 
losing this old companion. 

146 



TO BULAWAYO 

I forgot to mention a rather amusing incident that 
happened to me one day with a Matabele of some import- 
ance. I must say here that, when a waggon was outspanned 
in Bulawayo, crowds of Matabele ladies used to come 
round it from morning to night under the pretence of selling 
joala (native beer) or mealies, their real object being to 
find a temporary purchaser for themselves. They were 
ugly and dirty, and emitted a most repulsive smell ; the 
one indigenous to the native himself is bad enough, but 
the Matabele women scent themselves by fastening round 
their neck a small sachet containing a certain plant, the 
smell of which can only be compared to the odour of 
the Malay fruit, dorian — a compound of excrements and 
rotten meat. To drive away these odoriferous ladies 
was impossible, as they hoped, I suppose, that the most 
persistent would at last touch my heart, and that I should 
investigate their charms in exchange for the usual price 
of two yards of calico. I may here say that the utmost 
liberty is left to unmarried Matabele girls, and, as Lo 
Bengula used to put it, "before she is married, a girl's 
body belongs to herself, but after marriage it belongs to 
her husband." 

In order to avoid as much as possible the importunities 
of these ladies, I had made it a rule that no native, male 
or female, with the exception of my men, should be allowed 
inside my thorn enclosure. One day I was lying in my 
waggon dreadfully ill with a very bad headache, when I 
heard a tremendous row. I got out, and found a Matabele, 
very drunk, who had forced his way inside the enclosure. 
I told Major to order him out, but, like the proverbial 
drunkard who is told to move on by the London police, 
the fellow replied that fifty white men would not turn him 
out. I therefore caught hold of him by the neck and 
by his monkey skins, threw him right in the middle of the 
thorns, and with another shove turned him over the other 
side of my " scarum," as the enclosure is called out there. 
Fuming with rage he regained his legs, and swore that he 
147 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

was going to come and kill me. Accordingly, a quarter 
of an hour later he returned with five assegais. I im- 
mediately drew my revolver and waited to see what 
course the man was going to follow. He advanced in 
front of the opening of my enclosure, and began to shout 
that I had insulted him, that he was a big man, and 
that he had come to kill me. I then told my interpreter 
to inform him that I did not want to fight, but that if 
he came inside my scarum I would shoot him. He kept, 
however, outside, and after a little time, seeing that he 
was calming down, I spoke to him once more through 
my interpreter. 

" Presently," I said, " I intend going to your house, and 
there I will make a great noise and abuse you in every 
way I can." 

" Will you ? " he replied. " Very well, if you do so, 
I will beat you out with a stick." 

" But," I answered, " if you resent the idea of my going 
to make a noise in your house, why shouldn't I resent 
your having done the same in my house ? You know my 
scarum is my own house here ? " 

The idea seemed to strike the Matabele, and after a few 
minutes' reflection he replied, "Well, there is sense in what 
you say ; I will go now, and come and talk about it 
again." 

A couple of hours later he returned, followed by 
six girls carrying "joala," and asked me if he could 
bring it inside my scarum, and come there himself to 
seal the peace between us. I replied that he could come 
in, but that if he made a noise I would turn him out 
once more. After that we became firm friends. He 
used to come every day to see me, and not only did 
he never make a noise, but he prevented other natives 
from bothering me. 

I quote this incident merely to show that, although 
a wild race, the Matabele are, like all natives, fond of 
arguing, and easily impressed by a striking argument. 



TO BULAWAYO 

The distance from Bulawayo to Hope Fountain is about 
twelve miles, and one easy day's trek took us there. The 
mission station was built on the slope of a hill, at the foot 
of which runs a pretty stream. On the opposite bank 
grows a clump of most magnificent elms, rising to a height 
of nearly loo feet. Mr. Helm's house, built by himself, 
consisted of brick walls with an enormous thatched roof 
spreading over a broad verandah. The sitting-room was 
surrounded by rows of shelves covered with most valuable 
books. Mrs. Helm put me up in a most comfortable room, 
and, for the first time for a year, I slept in a real bed 
with a spring mattress — a luxury I thoroughly enjoyed. 
I arrived at Hope Fountain in such a miserable state 
of health that 1 thought I should have to go straight 
back home, but I was so kindly nursed by Mrs. Helm 
that I soon recovered, and after a month's stay at Hope 
Fountain I was ready to resume my journey. Never 
shall I forget the kind nursing of Mrs. Helm, and during 
the month I spent as her husband's guest I was able 
to appreciate the sterling qualities that gained for him 
universal love and the respect of all — whites and blacks 
alike — who came in contact with him. Mr. Helm also 
greatly helped me to complete the notes I had already 
collected in Bulawayo on native customs, of which I 
will now speak. 



149 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE MATABELE 

THE Matabele, or Amandabili as they ought really 
to be called; are an offshoot of the Zulu race. Some 
fifty years ago one of the indunas, or generals of the great 
Zulu King Chakwa, having reason to believe that he 
would be put to death by the chief, determined to leave 
Zululand. This induna, Umsili Gazi, father of Lo Bengula, 
collected his warriors and settled in the country now 
known as the Transvaal. When the Boers crossed the 
Vaal river he tried to oppose their ingress into what he 
now considered his own country, but he was defeated 
and retired to the north. In the meantime his followers 
had, according to the Zulu custom, been raiding the 
country and capturing many slaves. The women had 
been taken as wives by the warriors, the children had 
grown up and had been incorporated in the various regi- 
ments, and thus the number of Umsili Gazi's warriors 
had swelled considerably. More Boers crossed the Vaal 
river and pushed on to the north, so that the Zulu chief, 
wishing to settle in a country where he would not be 
disturbed, crossed the Limpopo river with all his people 
and marched into what is now known as Matabeleland. 
There he found a powerful Swazi chief in possession. 
This ruler, Mambo, had his capital in the Makalaka 
country, near the sources of the Tati river. Great battles 
were fought, and Mambo, beaten by the Matabele, retired 
to the foot of a hiU^ — now a sacred spot — with all his 
wives. The Matabele warriors followed him there, and 
150 



THE MATABELE 

when he saw that he was about to be captured he first 
killed all his wives and then himself. His pep^e, retiring 
to the north, crossed the Zambezi, and, as will be seen 
later on, formed what is now called the Wahehe tribe, 
that has given so much trouble to the Germans since 
they occupied East Africa. 

Umsili Gazi then settled close to the source of the 
Kumalo river, not far from the spot where Bulawayo 
ow stands. The Kumalo river is named after then 
reigning family of the Amandabili, of which stock 
Umsili Gazi was a descendant. 

Umsili Gazi, in his turn, had -^^.^sul^^ 

difficulties with one of his brothers /-"f^?^^"**^ 

or indunas : the latter parted from 
the king, and with his followers 
crossed the Zambezi. Backed by 
well -disciplined followers, inherit- 
ing the perfect military organiza- 
tion of the Zulus, he found little 
difficulty in crushing the quiet, 
agricultural races with which he 
came in contact, and quickly sub- 
jugated the country east of the 

Ro-Angwa river and west of Lake Nyasa. It was on 
hearing of his approach that the Swazis of Mambo, 
still remembering the crushing defeat they had sustained 
from the Matabele, retired to the north, and formed 
the Wahehe tribe. The Matabele induna whose history 
I have just related was the father of Mpeseni, who 
still occupies the east of the Ro-Angwa river, and 
whose people are now known as the Angoni. What 
had happened before repeated itself, and two of the 
Angoni indunas parted from Mpeseni's father. One of 
them, repelled by the Wahehe, who had established 
themselves in great strength, passed on to the east 
of Lake Nyasa, and formed the tribe known as the 
Ma-Viti, over which Makanjira lately ruled. The other 
151 





1- 




f 


I 


\ 


TYPE OF 


MATABELE. 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

joined the chief of the Wanyamwezi, Mirambo, whose 
battles he and his warriors fought as Ruga-Ruga. It was 
chiefly owing to their help that this most powerful chief 
managed to reduce all the neighbouring tribes under his 
rule. Unfortunately for these Zulus they were never 
more than mercenaries of Mirambo, and they therefore 
did not thrive like the others. When Mirambo died, the 
Wanyamwezi, then ruled by Mpanda Chalo, himself a 
great warrior, expelled the Ruga-Ruga from their territory, 
and they are now settled to the S.W. of Lake Victoria 
Nyanza, between the Wahha and Ruanda countries. 

All the other Zulu tribes increased most rapidly in 
numbers and military force, through their custom of inter- 
marrying with captured women and enlisting in their 
regiments the children looted in their raids, when the latter 
had grown into manhood. Curiously enough, these boys 
become so identified with their captors that, when a raid 
is made on their former homes, they are the most ferocious 
of all the invaders. It may be safely said that whenever 
you find a Zulu settlement you will find there a splendid 
grazing country, as the Zulu never settle where they 
cannot rear their big herds of cattle. 

But I must get back to the Matabele. In their polity 
witchcraft played a leading part, if not the leading part 
altogether ; and it must be well understood that there 
were two kinds of witchcraft. One was practised by the 
witch-doctors and by the King — such as, for instance, 
the "making of medicine" to bring on rain, or the 
ceremonies carried out by the witch-doctors to appease 
the spirits of ancestors. The other witchcraft was sup- 
posed to consist of evil practices pursued to cause 
sickness or death. According to native ideas all over 
Africa such a thing as death from natural causes does 
not exist. Whatever ill befalls a man or a family is 
always the result of witchcraft, and in every case 
the witch-doctors are consulted to find out who has 
been guilty of it. In some instances the witch-doctors 
152 



THE MATABELE 

declare that the evil has been caused by the angry 
spirits of the ancestors, in which case they have to be 
propitiated through the medium of the witch-doctors. 
In other cases they point out some one or several 
persons as having caused the injury by making charms, 
and whoever is so accused by the witch - doctor is 
immediately put to death, his wife and the whole 
of his family sharing his fate. To bewitch anyone, 
according to Matabele belief, it is sufficient to spread 
medicine on his path or in his hut. There are also 
numerous other modes of working charms — for instance, 
if you want to cause an enemy to die you make a clay 
figure that is supposed to represent him. With a needle 
you pierce the figure, and your enemy, the first time 
he comes in contact with a foe, will be speared. The 
liver and entrails of a crocodile are supposed to be most 
powerful charms, and whoever becomes possessed of 
them can cause the death of any man he pleases. For 
that reason killing a crocodile is a very heinous crime. 
While I was in Matabeleland a crocodile was one day 
found dead, speared, on the bank of a river. The witch- 
doctors were consulted in order to find out who had 
been guilty of the deed, and six people were denounced 
as the offenders and put to death, with their families. 

The idea of a Supreme Being is utterly foreign, and 
cannot be appreciated by the native mind. They have 
a vague idea of a number of evil spirits always ready 
to do harm, and chief among these are the spirits of their 
ancestors ; but they do not pray to them to ask for their 
help if they wish to enter on any undertaking. They 
merely offer sacrifices to appease them when some evil 
has befallen the family. 

Of witch-doctors there are two different kinds. The 
first deliver oracles by bone-throwing. They have three 
bones carved with different signs ; these they throw 
up, and according to the position they assume when 
falling, and the side on which they fall, they make 
'S3 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

the prediction. The other kind dehver their oracles in 
a slow and very shrill chant. Both are supposed to be 
on speaking terms with spirits. They are in constant 
request, but are usually poorly paid. Their influence, 
however, is tremendous, and in Lo Bengula's time their 
power was as great as, if not greater than, the King's. 
Lo Bengula always kept two or three of them near 
him. Chief among their work was that of rain-making ; 
this was done with a charm made from the blood 
and gall of a black ox. No witch - doctor, however, 
could make rain except by the orders of the King. It 
was a risky trade, for they were put to death if they 
failed in their endeavours to produce rain. Dreams are 
considered of deep significance by the witch-doctors. 
Madmen are supposed to be possessed of a spirit, and 
were formerly under the protection of the King. 

One of the most remarkable ceremonies that used to be 
performed by the witch-doctors was that of smelling out 
the witches. On the first moon of the second month of 
the year, all the various regiments gathered at Bulawayo 
and held a big dance, in which the King took part; usually 
from 12,000 to 15,000 warriors assembled for this cere- 
mony. After the dance the smelling of witches began. 
The various regiments being formed in crescent shape, the 
King took his stand in front, surrounded by the doctors, 
usually women. These began a slow song, accompanied 
by a dance ; they carried in their hands a small wand. 
Gradually the song and the dance became quicker; they 
seemed to be possessed. They rushed madly about, pass- 
ing in front of the soldiers, pretending to smell them. 
All of a sudden they stopped in front of a man, and, 
touching him with their wands, began howling like 
maniacs ; the man was immediately removed, and put 
to death. In this way hundreds of people were killed 
every year during the big dance. No one, however high 
his position, was protected against the mandate of the 
witch-doctors — usually the tools of the King, who found 
154 



THE MATABELE 

in this a way of getting rid of his enemies, or of doing 
away with those in high station whose loyalty he had 
reason to doubt. 

The office of induna, or general of a township, was 
hereditary. There were different ranks, graduated accord- 
ing to birth ; the highest belonged to the Kumalo family, 
of which Lo Bengula came. There was also a Prime 
Minister, Umlagala, who was consulted in all important 
cases, and a Chief Judge, Magwewe. He tried all cases 
of appeal from the decision of the induna, but the people 
could appeal against his decisions to the King. Lo Ben- 
gula had always at least half a dozen councillors around 
him, but their influence was very small. After the King 
the witch-doctors were the only great power in the land, 
and they had an enormous influence over Lo Bengula and 
the whole people. I was not in the least astonished to 
hear that the outbreak that has lately taken place in 
Matabeleland was traced to the witch-doctors, who would 
seize the occasion of the rinderpest to make use of their 
power. Naturally they must have felt more than any- 
body else the occupation of Matabeleland by the whites, 
as it meant the disappearance of their former power. 
When the rinderpest broke out they probably persuaded 
the natives — who understood nothing about an epidemic, 
and attribute, as I said before, whatever ill befalls them 
to witchcraft — that it was the spirit of Lo Bengula which 
was dissatisfied with them, and which caused their cattle 
to die. To appease Lo Ben's spirit it was necessary to 
fight the whites. They, the witch-doctors, would make 
medicine to turn the bullets of the white men into water, 
so that the Matabele could not be hurt by them. I 
pointed out all this at the time, and it appears I was 
mainly right. 

I spoke just now of the big dance, and so remarkable 

was the sight and so great was the influence of it over 

the natives, that it is necessary to describe it in detail. 

The big dance of February was preceded by a smaller one 

155 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

in January. In four towns medicine was prepared for this 
dance — Inyati, Imbezu, Ingubo, and Bulawayo. For the 
small dance, in which the regiments of a few towns near 
Bulawayo were assembled, the people were not allowed 
to wear any ornaments. In the afternoon the dance 
took place by regiments. No musical instruments were 
used, but only songs marked the time. At this dance 
the King did not appear ; he remained in his kraal, 
busied in completing the medicine that had been brought 
from the four towns. I have not been able to ascertain 
for what object this medicine was prepared. It seems to 
have been a kind of expiation time, and the assembly was 
decidedly serious and solemn. The women did not take 
part in the dance. Next morning there was some more 
dancing and they dispersed. On the new moon following 
(February), the beginning of the Matabele year, the King 
was supposed to fast from food and drink. Lo Bengula 
compromised this self-denying ordinance by drinking beer 
only out of a bottle. During that day he was supposed 
to have communication with the spirits of his ancestors, 
and he abstained altogether from business. 

The big dance took place a few days after the full 
moon, and the regiments from all the towns generally 
assembled for it. The men came to settle round Bula- 
wayo, building huts ; while the women went to and fro 
between the villages and the camp to bring food. On ■ 
the day of the dance the proceedings were opened by the 
arrival of the doctors of the Feast (Abakudamo), an office 
hereditary in one family. After their arrival the dance 
began towards ten in the morning. The whole of the 
15,000 warriors were formed in a semi-circle, singing and 
dancing in time ; before assuming their formation they 
marched past the King, who then retired into his kraal, 
accompanied by the witch-doctors, and made medicine. 
At last he would come out and sit on his chair at the 
door of the kraal, and occasionally he got up and took 
a few steps. In front of the warriors stood numbers 
156 



THE MATABELE 

of women and girls singing and dancing also. When 
the King took part in the dancing everyone had to 
join him ; and to compel those who did not feel inclined 
to do so the witch-doctors rushed about, followed by- 
servants carrying thorn bushes, with which they struck 
the people who did not dance with enough vigour. When 
the King had resumed his seat some men came forward 
from the ranks one after the other singing their own 
praises, proclaiming aloud how many people they had 
slain, and pointing with their spears in the direction 
of the places where they had killed an enemy, while 
the other warriors of the same village shouted the name 
of the place where the deed was done. At one period 
of the ceremony the King went out to the gates of the 
town, followed by one or two regiments. He then threw 
a spear and the young warriors all rushed after it, and 
the one who secured it brought it back in triumph to the 
King. It was supposed that the direction in which the 
spear was thrown indicated the direction in which the next 
raid would take place. After the dance a large number 
of cattle given by the King to the regiments were 
slaughtered. The meat was not eaten that same night ; 
it was left for the spirits of the ancestors, who were 
supposed to come and partake of it. But the following 
day the people came to take it and had a great feast. 
Large quantities of native beer were consumed at the 
same time, and the dancing used to last for several 
days. It is interesting to note the way in which the 
animals were slaughtered : they had to be stuck with 
an assegai in the left side, any other mode of slaughter 
being considered as likely to cause the direst evil. The 
dance over, the warriors, before returning to their villages, 
burnt the huts they had temporarily erected around 
Bulawayo. 

After the big dance the ceremony of the firstfruit took 
place — a most important one, as no one was allowed to 
eat vegetables of the new season until after it. In the 
157 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AERICA 

morning all the inhabitants of each town went to the 
river to wash, and when they returned they prepared 
a dish of vegetables mixed up with medicine. The witch- 
doctor who prepared it took it by handfuls and scattered 
it amongst the people, who seized and ate it. After this 
they could eat any vegetable growing. The women did 
not take part in this ceremony. 

Of all the customs of the Matabele the marriage 
ceremony is certainly the most interesting. Unlike the 
other African tribes, they do not buy the wife from her 
father, but after the first child is born the husband has 
to pay its value, or else the wife's father has the right 
to take the child away. In case, however, a wife dies 
shortly after marriage or remains barren, the husband 
has a right to claim her sister or nearest relation in 
place of her. When a young man has noticed a girl 
and wishes to marry her, he calls on the father and 
obtains his permission. People of the same class bearing 
the same family name cannot marry ; the relationship, 
however, is only considered in the male line. For in- 
stance, a Kumalo cannot marry a Kumalo. When the 
father has given permission for the marriage to take place, 
the intended husband kills an ox or a sheep, according 
to his means, and takes part of it to the town where the 
girl's father lives. The young man stops outside, accom- 
panied by his friends, and shouts, " Here is meat for your 
child." The young warriors of the town then rush out 
and drive the messengers away, and after a sham fight and 
pursuit they all come back and feast. A few days later the 
girl proceeds to her husband's town, accompanied by the 
young girls of her own. Sometimes her father gives 
her an ox or a cow to take with her, or, if he cannot 
afford it, perhaps a sheep. The procession then goes to 
the house of the bridegroom. The bride, who has brought 
a calabash filled with water, at the bottom of which are 
strings of beads, pours some of the contents over the 
bridegroom, and sprinkles his people and his friends with 
158 



THE MATABELE 

the remainder. She then puts the beads on her head, 
and placing the calabash on the ground in front of her 
husband she crushes it with her foot, and the marriage 
is sealed. The girls who have accompanied her are 
entertained for the night ; the husband slaughters an 
animal and feeds them as well as his friends, and during 
the whole of that night and of the next day there is 
dancing, with beating of drums and drinking of native 
beer. The following day the bridesmaids go to collect 
wood in the bush ; the bridegroom presents them on their 
return with a goat, and after eating the meat they go back 



MATABELE WOMEN. 

to their homes. There is one very striking custom con- 
nected with marriage. A married woman can neither 
speak to, nor even look at her father-in-law ; and her 
husband must observe the same reserve towards his 
mother-in-law. Many people, I dare say, would like to 
see this custom introduced in this country. 

One day, I remember, an old man brought to me a child, 
his grandson, who was ill ; he wanted medicine for the 
baby. I asked him what was the matter with it, and he 
said that he did not exactly know, but that the mother 
did ; so I asked him why he had not brought her. Upon 
his informing me that she was close by, I told him to call 
her; the moment she appeared in the distance, to my utter 
astonishment, he placed the baby in my arms and went 
'59 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

to hide himself behind a hut. It was only afterwards 
that his conduct was explained to me. 

Before marriage women are allowed entire freedom, but 
not so afterwards, since the least infringement of the 
marriage vows is punished by the death of the two 
guilty parties. Divorce is not permitted, at least on the 
woman's side. If, however, a man does not like his wife 
he can send her away and return her to her parents ; but 
in such a case she is allowed to marry another man if she 
chooses. But a wife cannot leave her husband of her own 
free will. When a man dies his widows become the 
property of his eldest brother. Polygamy is the rule, the 
average number of a man's wives ranging from two up to 
several hundreds. For instance, Umsili Gazi, Lo Bengula's 
father, had 800. The children are numerous, the average 
number being three or four for each woman. Twins are 
put to death, and the mortality among children is 
enormous, owing chiefly to the lack of care — so that only 
the fittest can survive. More than seventy per cent, die 
before they reach the age of five months ; and for that 
reason, if polygamy ceases to exist, the native races will 
disappear from Africa. 

Most of the hard work is performed by the women ; the 
whole of the cultivation is done by them. They plough 
with short spades of native manufacture ; they sow the 
fields, and they clear them of weeds. After the big dance 
the girls go with great ceremony into the fields, having taken 
off all their clothes, which they replace by grass. No man 
is allowed to be upon the road when the procession passes. 

When they find caterpillars in their fields they apply 
to the witch-doctors for medicine, or charms, to drive 
them away. They also place an ear of corn in a cala- 
bash, fill it up with caterpillars, and place the receptacle 
in a road leading towards another village, so as to 
induce the insects to migrate thither. The only share 
of the men in the cultivation lies in making, towards 
April, huge fires to the windward of the gardens, their 
160 



THE MATABELE 

idea being that the smoke, by passing over the crops, 
will assist the ripening of them. After the corn has been 
thrashed it is placed in baskets and covered with clay. 
The baskets are then placed in holes under the cattle 
kraal ; sometimes they place them in clay pillars near 
their huts. They reap towards the end of April, but in 
Lo Bengula's time everyone had to wait until the chief had 
reaped his own garden. No one dared to begin before, 
so that if for some reason or another the King's crops 
happened to be backward, many of the people had their 
crops rotten, being unable to gather them. 

The funerals are conducted with a good deal of 
ceremony. As soon as a man is dead his relations tie 
up the corpse in blankets or skins in a sitting position, 
and begin to howl. The people of the town, and the 
friends of the dead from neighbouring villages, come to 
the hut and join his family in their bowlings. If the dead 
is a man of importance, such as an induna, everybody in 
the neighbourhood comes to cry over him ; if he is not a 
man of importance, his friends only. As soon as they 
arrive within sight they begin to scream at the top of their 
voices ; after they enter the hut they cease their cries, but 
begin again on departing. A grave is dug by the rela- 
tions outside the town, no special place being appointed 
for the burials. The corpse is laid in the ground in the 
same sitting posture and covered with bushes ; then the 
grave is filled up with earth. On the top stones and 
bushes are laid. After the funeral the nearest relations, 
and anyone who has come into actual contact with the 
corpse, go out into special huts that are built outside 
every town for the purpose, and remain there for several 
days, through the same fear of impurity, until they have 
been thoroughly physicked and cleansed by the witch- 
doctors. When a man is in a dying state he is taken 
into a small hut outside the town to die. There is 
no special sign of mourning, but the widows walk out 
every morning and every evening and howl mournfully 
M i6i 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

during several days after the death of their husbands. 
People, however, who have been executed for witchcraft 
are not buried, but are left in the bush to be eaten up by 
the hyaenas and the birds of prey. 

There is no individual landed property in Matabeleland. 
The land belongs to the tribe, and in Lo Bengula's time the 
people were allowed to own sheep and goats, as well as a 
small quantity of oxen ; but when a man began to own a 
large number of cattle he was exposed to the danger of 
death for witchcraft, on the accusation of the witch- 
doctors acting as the tools of the King, or of the local 
chiefs, who eyed with extreme jealousy the wealth of any 
one of their subjects. In each village a large number of 
cattle was also given by the King, to be cared for by his 
people. These cattle were nominally the property of the 
King and of the nation ; Lo Bengula could call for them 
whenever he required them. It was from these herds that 
the oxen were taken which were slaughtered at the time 
of the big dance. I also found that Lo Bengula, when he 
visited the various towns of his country, followed by a 
large number of warriors, had some of these regal cattle 
slaughtered. The people, however, who had charge of 
them had a right to the calves as well as to the milk, and 
also to the skins of the animals when they died. These 
skins were used to make shields. It may therefore be 
easily understood that when, after the Matabele war, the 
Company claimed all the cattle belonging to Lo Bengula, 
which were in this way entrusted to the people of the 
various villages, the demand was much resented by the 
natives. Lo Bengula also had a large quantity of cattle 
which were his own exclusively, while the others were 
practically national property. 

Each town, as I explained before, was organized into 
a regiment. These were of two kinds— the regiments 
of young men, Majoka, and the regiments of old men, 
Amadota, This did not mean that the various regiments 
were composed exclusively of young or old men. The 



THE MATABELE 

latter were distinguished from the others by the ring they 
wore on their head, a ring made of grass sewn on to the 
hair and covered with glue. This distinction was conferred 
not on individuals but on the whole regiment, as a reward 
for bravery or for services rendered the King. The 
" young men" were not allowed to have official wives : 
they could indeed be married, but could not build 
separate huts for their wives. The distinctive mark for 
each division (composed of several regiments) was the 
colour of the shields, and also the shape and colour of 
the head - gear worn, which consisted of a big ball of 
feathers placed on the top of the head, and held by a 
string passed under the chin. The war dress was most 
magnificent. For the regiments of young men it consisted 
of a kind of helmet enveloping the whole of the head, and 
only showing the eyes, the nose, and the mouth ; this 
was made of black ostrich feathers, as well as a huge cape, 
with which the neck and shoulders were covered. The 
old men wore the same, but no helmet ; it was replaced 
in their case by a band, about four inches broad, of otter 
skin tied round the forehead, with a crane feather stuck 
in it. The army consisted of all the male population 
from 1 5 years upwards ; and the children who had been 
enslaved in the various raids were incorporated in the 
regiments when they reached manhood. There was thus 
always new blood in the Matabele army, and the strength 
of the fighting men was yearly increased. At the head 
of each village, and consequently of each regiment, was 
an induna, having under him several captains (Umzuli), 
appointed by him ; this office was usually hereditary. 

When a tow-n was removed from one place to another 
each division kept its relative position, and the gardens 
of each division were marked out in the same position 
as in the previous town, each man taking his own. 
Every year Lo Bengula used to send a large impi to raid 
some neighbouring tribe. Mashonaland was the chief 



163 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

in cattle. It was in order to protect themselves against 
these raids that the inhabitants of what is now called 
Mashonaland built their villages on the very top of the 
highest hills ; hence the nickname of Amashuina given 
to them by the Matabele, Amashuina meaning baboons 
— "these monkeys living on the top of the hills." The 
passage of the Matabele raiders was marked by a trail 
of perfectly wanton destruction. Among the most 
celebrated raids were those in the country around Lake 
N'gami. The Matabele were severely beaten, and had 
to cross hundreds of miles of desert to return to their 
country ; having failed to secure cattle they had no food, 
water was scarce, and numbers of them died on the way. 
The induna in command was put to death on his return 
to Bulawayo. Another disaster befell them in the 
Mashukolumbwe country, north of the Zambezi, and 
west of the Kafui river. This district is celebrated for 
its cattle — a small breed, but very abundant. These 
Mashukolumbwe wear no clothes of any kind, and are 
remarkable for the way in which they do their hair. 
They let it grow long, and then dress it in the shape 
of a long pointed horn, starting from the back of the 
head, and reaching a height of two or three feet. The 
Matabele invaded the country and captured a lot of cattle; 
but on their return, when they reached the neighbourhood 
of the Zambezi valley, they had to cross huge swamps. 
There the Mashukolumbwe had laid an ambush for them ; 
many were killed, others drowned, and more than half of 
the cattle were drowned also. The occupation of Mashona- 
land by the whites was eyed with much anger by the 
Matabele warriors, as they resented being prevented from 
carrying on their raids there. How this finally led to 
the war and the break-up of the natives everybody now 
knows. 

The food of the Matabele usually consists of porridge 
made of Indian corn or millet flour, boiled in water, and 
sometimes of meat; dead animals are always eaten up. 
164 



THE MATABELE 

The meat is either stewed in earthenware pots, or roasted, 
and almost burned, on the fire. The natives also make 
large quantities of native beer, "joala," consisting of a 
thick porridge of millet and Indian corn flour, boiled in 
pots, and allowed to stand for a few days until fermenta- 
tion sets in. This drink is slightly intoxicating, but the 
natives drink enormous quantities of it : Lo Bengula, 
as I have said, drank several gallons daily. It is the only 
food that old men take, since it affords nourishment as 
well as drink. To make it stronger rice is added, and 
sometimes really intoxicating drink is manufactured in 
this way. 

The Matabele, to sum up their characteristics, are 
essentially a warlike tribe, easily roused, always ready 
to fight ; and they have from their early youth grown 
so accustomed to the idea of death, that they possess 
nothing analogous to our respect for human life. They 
are intensely superstitious ; and their idea of power, 
known or unknown, is always associated with evil. The 
good sides of human nature are neither known nor under- 
stood by them. Honesty, kindness, gratitude, do not 
exist for them. The thief is not despised because he has 
stolen, but because he has allowed himself to be caught, 
and if his crime remains undetected he is admired by all. 
The higher powers, whether chiefs or spirits, are respected 
in direct proportion to what we should call their cruelty 
and tendency to evil. At the big dance, as we have seen, 
the great warriors came forward and enumerated the 
number of people they had killed, not only in war, but 
also in their own country — for instance, if they had 
put a man to death by orders of the King. Whenever 
Lo Ben wanted someone killed every man was anxious 
to be entrusted with the mission, whether the intended 
victim were his bitterest enemy or his best friend. Kind- 
ness is considered by them the result of fear. I had a 
Matabele as ox-leader, and I had been particularly good 
to him. I made him one day a present of a coat, an 
165 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

article that they greatly value ; I promised to increase 
his wages, and gave him five shillings more than he was 
entitled to : that same night he disappeared, after stealing 
a box of gun-caps. Before going he said to my headman 
that there was something wrong with me ; I had been 
giving him a lot of things without reason, and he thought 
that, as I was shortly going out of Matabeleland, I must 
have had some evil design on him, and I had probably 
done all this to decoy him away, and to bewitch him 
when once we got out of his country ! 

From an economic point of view the Matabele are a 
useless race. They are destructive, despise work, and 
have always considered their weaker neighbours as a 
legitimate prey. The women, in their eyes, are only 
worth slightly more than cattle, merely representing their 
value in oxen. They are only appreciated for the work 
they are able to perform and the number of children they 
bring to their husbands ; our conception of love is unin- 
telligible to them. Of course they are susceptible of 
improvement, but it will take several generations before 
the deeply-rooted prejudices that they are imbued with 
can be eradicated. The first thing that must be done, 
now the rebellion is over, is to set to work against 
the witch-doctors, but great care will have to be taken 
not to do so in a hurry, as persecution is so great an 
incentive to proselytism. 

Apart from the great service that has been rendered 
by the Chartered Company to the Empire in the addition 
of this valuable country to the possessions of Great 
Britain, the crushing of the Matabele, as a ruling power, 
has been an immense step towards the civilization of 
Africa. It has saved thousands of natives of neighbouring 
tribes from murder and incessant persecution, enabling 
them to carry out in peace their agricultural labour ; and 
I have no doubt that the next generation of Matabele 
will learn to work, in order to satisfy the new wants that 
are certain to arise among them through daily contact 
1 66 



THE MATABELE 

with civilization. To the close observer it is already a 
remarkable fact that the Matabele have, during the recent 
rebellion, but seldom adopted their old method of fighting ; 
and if this rebellion is an incident to be deplored, I feel 
certain that when it has been quelled the country will 
arise from the ordeal with a fresh vitality, and the natives 
will feel for the whites a much deeper respect than they 
ever did before. 



167 



CHAPTER VIII. 

AMONG THE MAKALAKA 

I LEFT Hope Fountain, pretty well restored to health, 
on the 23rd of April' On starting at four in the 
afternoon we first followed the tracks of previous 
travellers over a plateau, but soon lost them, and went 
on through tall grass, passing numerous maize fields, in 
the middle of which grew lemons and water-melons. 
Presently we came to a small village, where a native 
stopped me to ask for medicine. He had been fighting 
with another man, and one of his fingers had been cut 
in two with an axe. The wound was quite fresh, and 
he said it did not hurt him. I dressed it as well as I 
could, and by way of thanks he asked me for a present. 
We camped on a dry upland, without any wood for fire, 
and to all intents and purposes lost in the veldt. But 
I was used to that by now. 

Starting at sunrise next morning, we found ourselves 
at the end of an hour near a village bearing the musical 
name of Magogweni. The young warriors came out of 
the village and demanded the inevitable present ; they 
were all armed with knobbed sticks and assegais, and 
the demeanour of some of them was very menacing. 
Of course I did not give them a present, whereon they 
began to threaten me, and broke out into a song to the 
effect that they would soon kill all the whites. Next 
they began to beat one of my men — the smallest of 
the lot, of course, a poor devil who was nothing but 
skin and bone. This was going too far, so I told them 
168 



AMONG THE MAKALAKA 

through my interpreter to be gone. As this had no effect, 
I finished by producing my revolver. At last I had found 
an argument they could appreciate. They drew back 
immediately, but continued to follow us for about half 
an hour, brandishing their weapons and yelling out 
threats. This was only a fair specimen of the feeling 
of all the young warriors at the time. Consequently, I 
for one was by no means surprised a few months later 
to hear that the Chartered Company had been driven to 
war with them. 

At half-past nine we got to the river Khami, a name 
now familiar to the British public — if not already 
forgotten — by reason of several severe fights on its 
banks during the recent Matabele revolt. We crossed 
it near its source, where it is not much more than a 
rivulet a few yards wide. But its banks are very steep, 
and it is dangerous to bathe in the deeper holes, where 
crocodiles lie. Halting on the southern bank, we had 
great difficulty in getting a little dry wood to cook our 
breakfast. 

We halted for the night at the river Mabokotwani, 
where a number of natives arrived from a neighbouring 
village with baskets of maize, potatoes, and the like. 
Among them was a tall native, adorned with an old hat 
and vest, of which he seemed exceedingly proud. 
Approaching me, he explained that the Queen wished 
me to come and pay her a visit the next morning. I 
remembered then that when this august lady paid me 
a visit on my way to Bulawayo I had promised her 
a present. I therefore gave her messenger a handful 
of glass beads, and bade him tell Her Majesty that I 
much regretted being unable to pay her a visit, but 
I expected to start again at the break of day. An hour 
later the messenger returned, followed by slaves carrying 
gourds of beer, a present from the Queen. Her message 
was that I must certainly stay the next day, as she could 
not think of letting me go without seeing me. Thinking 
169 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

there might be something of interest to see, I promised 
to visit her. 

Next morning, according to promise, I went to her 
village, which was only a few hundred yards from the 
camp. The country was undulating and covered with 
high grass ; owing to this and the exceeding lowness 
of the huts of Her Majesty's village, the place was 
hardly visible a hundred yards away. It was surrounded 
by a high palisade ; we had to climb over a barrier 
of trunks of trees to pass this, and then found ourselves 
in a large well -levelled courtyard, in which were three 
huts. Two on the right belonged to the Maholi or slaves ; 
that on the left was the royal hut, rather higher than 
the others, and adorned with ox-horns. The Queen was 
seated on a mat in front of the door, with an enormous 
gourd of beer at her side. Imbolo — such was her name 
— was of a remarkable type. An enormous woman, nearly 
six feet high, and with the build of a blacksmith; her 
breasts hung down below her waist, while her enormous 
stomach drooped down like an apron. Her only garment 
was a petticoat of ox-skin, which is the official costume 
of queens. Before her, at a respectful distance, squatted 
some twenty natives, while Maholi women went to and 
fro in the courtyard. On my appearance they brought 
me a mat to sit down on, and placed at my side a pot 
containing several pints of beer. The Queen then pro- 
ceeded to examine all my belongings, being especially 
interested in my revolver and my watch. The interpreter 
explained to her that the latter moved with the sun, and 
that with its aid I could tell where the sun and moon 
were without seeing them. This she found very extra- 
ordinary. She then noticed my Japanese tattoo marks ; 
a dragon appeared to her a new and very engaging beast, 
but she was rather troubled by the fear that it went when 
I washed. Her next question was whether my country 
was very far away. I explained how many moons it 
would take to march thither going northward. She replied 
170 



AMONG THE MAKALAKA 

with decision that this was a He, because all white men 
came from the south. Was I married ? was her next 
inquiry ; but here she was interrupted by one of the by- 
standers. " Come, come/' he said, " he is too young for 
that," The whole party burst into roars of laughter when 
I blew my nose. After a desultory conversation of this 
rather unprofitable kind, I said I must go ; but Her 
Majesty's hospitality cried out against the idea. I must 
wait till the sun went down, she said ; then she would kill 
a beast and we would eat meat — the suvununi bonum of 
the native mind. I was firm ; but before departing got 
them to show me the whole place. The Queen's hut, 



THE QUEEN S HUT. 

of which I have already spoken, was low, the door 
hardly two feet high by three wide. I wondered how this 
enormous woman could ever manage to get through it. 
The ground inside was polished like a waxed floor. For 
such floors they use a sort of cement they get from ant- 
hills. This is kneaded into mortar and then polished by 
rubbing with a stone. On the threshold a row of small 
stones is embedded in the cement. The walls of the hut 
are made of mud. Behind the royal hut was another 
enclosure almost as important — the ox-kraal. In the 
middle of this were planted four poles about twelve 
feet high, on the top of which stood a little square hut. 
Here were kept the shields of the warriors ; they were 
the property of the King, and the Queen was their 
guardian. 

Before bidding adieu to Her Majesty I again presented 
171 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

her with some beads, and was followed back to my camp 
by a small crowd demanding the eternal present. A few 
moments after I reached my camp the messenger re- 
appeared with slaves carrying more beer and a sheep — 
more presents from the hospitable Queen. At the 
moment when I was starting Imbolo appeared in person, 
her enormous body rolling like a ship at sea. She had 
come in the benevolence of her heart to bid me au revoir. 
I offered her a box of preserves — a great wonder in 
native eyes — but she refused it. " You will need it for 
the journey," she said. Altogether she was a treasure 
of a woman, and Lo Ben was to be congratulated on 
at least one of his marriages. She insisted on accom- 
panying me for nearly half a mile, and left me with 
loud protestations of friendship. 

Two hours' march next day, over a series of bushy 
plateaux and among kopjes of the wildest and most 
fantastic shape, brought us into the heart of the Matopos. 
Then we began to descend rapidly. The path wound 
through wild gorges hemmed in by rocks covered with 
the richest vegetation. At one point we looked over 
a wide valley, with a pile of huddled kopjes in the middle, 
on the other side of which appeared a new range of 
mountains of the strangest form. It looked as if some 
giant had broken up a few mountains of the orthodox 
shape, and tossed down the fragments anyhow to form 
a new range. The descent became more and more rapid ; 
presently we crossed a small river, the Little Shashani, 
on the further side of which we came out among fields. 
Soon we approached the range of mountains we had 
seen the other side of the valley, and at the bottom 
of a romantic gorge came upon the river Shashani itself. 
A more difficult country for military operations with white 
troops cannot be imagined. 

We were now entering on the country inhabited by the 
Makalaka, with only one Matabele village six miles west 
of Mangwe. A great number of Makalaka came to us 
172 



AMONG THE MAKALAKA 

to trade by the Shashani with the usual maize, potatoes, 
water-melons, and so on. The men are of a by no means 
disagreeable type, without the air of arrogance which 
the Matabele affect. The women, on the other hand, are 
hideous. As a rule they shave their heads, leaving only one 
tuft, which they allow to grow very long and smear with 
a mixture of earth and fat. They wear round their waists 
a skin embroidered with rows of beads, the back of which 
forms a bag. Like all natives, they carry their children 
on their backs. These infants have their hair covered 
over with glass beads. They are exceedingly precocious, 
beginning to walk long before the age of twelve months. 
I saw one infant, who could not have been more than two 
months old, standing on his mother's back, his feet pressed 
on to the small of the back, and holding on to her shoulders. 
The Makalaka, I discovered, rejoice in a god of the name 
of Shumpaoli. He is found in the enclosure outside their 
huts, and is manufactured in the following manner. The 
head of an axe and a stone from the river are placed 
on the ground together; between these are planted a twig 
and a long stalk of grass — and there you have your god. 
When they make beer they pour some of it round the 
god, and the children come and lick him. They also 
scatter the first-fruits of the harvest about him, and on 
the great days when they kill a beast they skin it in his 
presence. 

We left the Shashani at three that afternoon, and con- 
tinued to follow the line of the Matopos, which were 
now on our left and east of us. The country was still 
very grandiose. In the evening two Makalaka, both 
appallingly drunk, arrived at my camp with a boy of 
about five. One of them wanted to sell me milk, 
and I offered him a price for it. The moment the 
words were out of my mouth, he began shouting out 
that I was mocking him, that he was a man ; and to 
prove it he Hfted up his son. "Very well," I said, "then 
take your milk away." Again he yelled out that I must 
173 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

not mock him, and again he hfted up his son. He 
repeated this performance about a dozen times, and then 
accepted the ten gun-caps which I had offered him. His 
comrade next approached, and asked if I would Hke to 
buy some maize, and how much would I want for a piece 
of cotton. I told him ten baskets. That wound him up, 
so to speak, and instantly he too began a series of blood- 
curdling yells"; but he too finished by offering to bring 
eight baskets at sunrise, and leaving his old musket as 
a guarantee of good faith. He did not appear next 
morning, so I started without waiting for him, well 
knowing that he would come to fetch his gun. Before 
long he came hurrying after us with the maize, and the 
transaction was completed ! Such is shopping in Africa. 

Next morning as we approached Mangwe the mountains 
gradually disappeared, and we passed through a succession 
of fields. In the middle of each was a small hut for the 
accommodation of women who had come there to get 
in the harvest. We reached Mangwe that evening, and 
started next day for Tati. The country became dull, 
and all signs of habitation ceased. On the 30th of April 
we reached the ruins of Mpakwe — on the further side of 
the river of the same name — which showed interesting 
traces of old gold workings. They are surrounded by 
a wall. About three-quarters can still be traced, and 
there is some sort of sign of a smelting furnace in the 
middle. Next day rather more than six hours' trek 
through hot sand, covered more and more with bush as 
we advanced, brought us to Tati. 

When I arrived in Tati I found that the oxen I had left 
sick when I started for Bulawayo had disappeared. I sent 
natives in search of them, while I devoted a week to letter- 
writing. At the end of that time I decided to push north- 
ward through the Makalaka country to try and find a 
better route to the Victoria Falls. I went first to the 
Monarch Mine, where I received a hearty welcome ; there 
I was detained a fortnight getting my waggon repaired. 
174 



AMONG THE MAKALAKA 

Mr. Kessler, the assayer, then mentioned some remarkable 
ruins, said to be quite as large as Zimbabwe, which were 
reported to exist near the sources of the Tati river, and 
it was arranged that we should visit them together. 

We took a native guide, and after three days' trek 
through a well-timbered country, covered with luxuriant 
grass and well watered, we camped at the foot of a hill, 
on the top of which rose a rocky point looking like a 
miniature imitation of the Matterhorn. The following 
morning our guide took us to see the celebrated ruins. 
First of all he led us to a huge flat slab of rock some 




IN THE MAKALAKA COUNTRY. 

three hundred feet in diameter, in the middle of which 
was a deep pool of water. We then climbed the slopes 
of the hill, and when we reached the base of the peak our 
guide informed us that we stood upon the sacred spot 

" But," said I, " where are the ruins ? " 

" There are no ruins, master ; but this is the place where 
the great Mambo died." 

After much questioning we discovered the tradition 
connected with this rock. When Umsili Gazi, Lo Ben- 
gula's father, invaded Matabeleland, the country was 
ruled by a Swazi chief, Mam.bo (" the Chief"). Beaten by 
Umsili Gazi near the place where Bulawayo now stands, he 
took refuge to the west and established himself near this 
rock. He hid in a cave by the big slab we first saw ; but 
175 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

heavy rains came and the cave was flooded, many of the 
women hidden in it being drowned. Mambo himself 
took refuge with his wives at the foot of the rock. Soon 
the Matabele came, and the Swazi were once more beaten 
by the invaders. Feehng that he was about to be taken 
prisoner, Mambo cut off the heads of his wives and 
slaves, and then, making a huge heap of dry wood, burned 
himself in the midst of their bodies. 

The tradition was interesting ; but Kessler was not too 
well pleased at having come all the way to see a mere 
rock. Anxious at least to get an idea of the geography 
of the country for his trouble, he suggested our climbing 
a high hill : to reach the foot of it we had to pass through 
very long grass covered with seeds. These stuck in my 
stockings, inflicting excruciating pain. However, we 
reached the top of the hill, and were rewarded with a 
magnificent view. Coming down by the other side we 
found at the foot still denser grass. From time to time 
I. tried to pull the grass seeds off my stockings, but soon 
so many got stuck in that I gave it up. I could go no 
further. These seeds, about half an inch long, have three 
barbs at their extremity shaped like a fish-hook ; not only 
do they stick into woollen garments, but, what is more 
to the point, into your skin. I was covered with so many 
of them, and the agony was so intense, that I sat down 
and declined to go a step further. Kessler, who had 
corduroy trousers, laughed at me ; but I got quite angry, 
and swore that I would stop there till he sent me the 
pony. 

The next day he returned to Monarch, and I went on, 
determined to penetrate as far as the Nata river, in order 
to ascertain whether it was possible to join the road across 
the Kalahari to the Victoria Falls. 

Presently I reached the first Makalaka village, the chief of 

which was not able to welcome me, as he had recently been 

killed by Lo Ben. A few natives appeared, and desired 

to sell fowls and sheep at a most exorbitant price ; but 

176 



AMONG THE MAKALAKA 

my object being to see the country, I decided to push on to 
Umsuazi's, the largest kraal of that district. The country 
became much flatter ; there were no kopjes, but much 
high grass and wood. We passed .a native cemetery, 
conspicuous by the funeral mounds, and there we found 
some natives. " Where is Umsuazi's village ? " I asked. 
There were no wheel tracks in the direction they pointed 
out, and we plunged into the veldt without much con- 
fidence. The direction was right all the same, and after 
half an hour we halted fifty yards from the chiefs huts. 
We were now about eighty miles from Tati, a hundred 
and seventy from Palapshwe, and only fifteen days south 
of the Zambezi. I have no hesitation in saying that this 
is the road of the future rather than that which I had 
taken when I visited the Barotse country. There is no 
thick sand, water is plentiful, and provisions can be got 
on the way. That at any rate is the case with the road 
so far as I trekked it. 

Half an hour after our arrival Umsuazi appeared with 
two or three of his followers. He was a tall old man, 
very dirty of course, with a malignant and rascally ex- 
pression. He began by measuring me with his eyes from 
head to foot ; I did the same by him. At the end of 
some minutes, seeing that I was not disposed to make any 
advances, he made up his mind to greet me, and squatted 
down opposite my fire. 

" Who told you to come into my country ? " was his 
first question. 

" Lo Bengula," I boldly replied. 

" What have you come for ? " 

" To buy mealies," I said. (It is always as well to have 
a definite object.) 

" Where is the King's man ? " next asked Umsuazi. 

" I have no man with me, but I am coming from Bula- 
wayo, and the King has allowed me to travel through his 
country." 

" Well," said the chief, " if you want mealies I will sell 
you some ; but you can't go any further." 
N 177 



AMONG THE MAKALAKA 

I made no reply, and the old man retired. 

Next morning he appeared bringing me a present, and 
I made him one in return. There was not much trading 
to be done, as the prices his people asked for beasts were 
simply ridiculous. However, grain could be bought at 
a fair rate for beads. Umsuazi took no great interest 
in any of my affairs, except my firearms, and was 
disagreeable in general. My men were much afraid of 
him, and said he would send us away, if he did no worse. 
On the second morning some women had appeared to sell 
us maize, when all of a sudden the chief appeared, 
storming and swearing. He was foaming at the mouth, 
and evidently drunk. He drove the women away with 
a stick, approached my camp, and then suddenly went 
off again swearing. In the afternoon he sent to say I 
had better go back whence I came, which added to the 
terror of my men. The next morning he appeared and 
did not greet me, only stared at me in silence, which is 
a great insult among the natives. I told him to go away, 
which he did, but again sent to say he would not let me 
go further. Without troubling myself about his ravings 
I made my preparations to go on. At the moment when 
I was inspanning he appeared again, accompanied by 
about a dozen men with assegais. He looked at me ; 
I looked at him. Seeing that I would not speak first, 
he said to me : 

" What did you say ? " 

" Nothing," I replied ; " did you say anything ? " 

He then turned to my men and threatened to kill them 
if they followed me. They translated his threats to me, 
and I made them tell him that if he had anything to say 
he had better say it to me and not to my slaves. I had 
had enough of his foolishness, I said, and was decided 
to go on. If he did not want me to, he had better stop 
me. 

" Where are you going ? " he asked, 

" I am going to the next village." 
178 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

" No, you won't." 

" Who will prevent me ? " 

" I shall prevent you " ; and thereupon he called his 
escort. 

" Now, look here, my friend," I said, losing my temper, 
" no nonsense. I am going, and you won't stop me." At 
the same time I seized my gun, and, seeing two birds 
in a tree about a hundred yards off, I aimed at them. 
The gun went off by accident, and" to my amazement 
the two birds dropped dead, cut in two by my express 
bullet. 

" You see," I said, seizing the opportunity, " that is how 
I can shoot. So you needn't try to stop me." 

The old chief responded that I was a bad man, that 
he would send messengers to Lo Ben, who would send 
an impi to kill me. Knowing that I should be out of 
the country before the messengers could reach Lo Ben, 
I went on. He sent some armed men after us ; I 
pretended to take no notice of them, and they soon 
disappeared. 

We trekked through a forest, and soon I noticed that 
my leader was guiding the oxen in such a way as to make 
a circle and to come back on our steps. I told him that it 
was no use trying that game on me, and I marched 
myself ahead of the waggon, following a footpath leading 
to the north-west. Towards evening we passed a village, 
where the people were most friendly ; they informed me 
that in a day's march I would get to Matamdumba's kraal, 
the residence of the biggest local chief We camped that 
night near a river. The next morning, after trekking for 
five hours, we found the footpath obstructed by a huge 
tree quite recently felled. With much difficulty we 
removed it, but soon came across fresh obstructions. I 
heard afterwards that Umsuazi had sent messengers ahead 
to warn the various chiefs to stop me. 

In the evening, however, we reached Matamdumba's 
kraal. My guide had bolted, afraid of Umsuazi's threats ; 
179 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

but a man of Matamdumba showed me the way in 
exchange for a box of gun-caps. Soon after my arrival 
old Matamdumba himself came to see me ; he was very 
friendly, but also much afraid. He promised to show 
me the Nata river the next day from the top of a hill. 
In the evening numbers of women brought me fresh milk 
and mealies. I paid two strings of beads for a gallon 
of milk, and about half a pound of them for a sack of 
mealies. 

The girls were all dressed in a kaross, which is made of 

skins sewed together and covered with elaborate designs 

of red and white beads. These 

are fastened on to the shoulders 

and hang below the ankles. They 

last a life-time, and being never 

washed emit a most dreadful odour. 

The girls' hair is shaved, with the 

exception of a tuft about four 

inches in diameter; this is allowed 

to grow long, and is smeared with 

a mixture of rancid butter and 

black ashes ; mixed up with the 

/ \ hair it forms a heavy coating, and 

/ I makes the people look most re- 

' pulsive. The children are carried 

MAKALAKA GIRL. ^ 

naked in a skin on their mothers 
backs, and the hair is done up like the girls', but with 
beads strung in it. Married women wear a small triangle 
of beads strung on the hair and hanging down on the 
forehead. 

The villages consist of circular huts with low conical 
roofs. In the centre stands the cattle kraal, and the whole 
village is surrounded with a strong palisade of wood 
stuck in the ground. The country is most fertile ; the 
people cultivate mealies, sweet potatoes, millet, water- 
melons, and pumpkins. They possess large numbers 
of cattle, small in size but perfect in shape. These are 
1 80 




AMONG THE MAKALAKA 

trained as pack animals, and many natives also ride 
them. They have also large numbers of goats, and a 
few sheep. 

For cattle they ask high prices — the equivalent of ^^5 
to £6 in trading goods — beads or guns. Goats can be 
purchased for about six shillings' worth of beads. 

The next morning the old chief took me up a hill, and 
I got from there a splendid view over the surrounding 
country. It finally convinced me that this is the best 
way to reach the Victoria Falls. By following this route 
you avoid all the waterless part of the Kalahari ; the 
grass is excellent, and there is no fear of losing your 
cattle through lack of water. 

From Matamdumba's kraal only five to six days are 
necessary to reach Wacha Vley, whence water is abundant 
right lip to the Zambezi. The old chief promised to 
give me guides to take me right up to the Nata river ; 
but in the afternoon I unfortunately climbed up a small 
hill with my theodolite and my camera. I was taking 
some angles when the chief appeared, followed by more 
than a hundred of his men, all armed. The old man was 
shaking all over with excitement. 

" So," he exclaimed, " you have come here to bewitch 
the country. I have a good mind to kill you." 

" Yes, yes," shouted his followers ; " kill him, kill him ; 
he has been doing witchcraft" 

My position was most disagreeable. I only had my 
revolver, but I was determined to shoot the first man 
who came near me. Through my interpreter I spoke 
to the people, trying to explain what I had been doing; 
but I hardly managed to calm them, and I returned 
to my waggon followed by the angry crowd. My 
interpreter strongly advised me to clear out that night, 
assuring me that the people meant to try me next day for 
witchcraft. So, as soon as the moon rose, we inspanned 
the waggon and trekked all night. In the afternoon 
we again moved away. I timed myself to pass Umsuazi's 
181 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

kraal at night, and was glad when I once more reached the 
sources of the Tati river. In three days more I arrived 
at the Monarch Mine. I have since heard that Lo Bengula 
was very wroth at my having visited this part of his states 
without his leave, and my unfortunate guide was seized 
by Umsuazi, sent to Lo Ben, and put to death. 

I spent some time at Monarch in order to get my 
waggon repaired, as I had upset it in a dry river and con- 



1;-*^ 






UPSET IN A DRIFT. 



siderably damaged it. I also developed my photographs, 
and then, taking leave of my kind friends, I trekked 
towards Palapshwe. My intention Avas to go back to 
Cape Town by the Transvaal, but when I reached 
Palapshwe I found some officers who had just returned 
from Mashonaland. 

They were full of enthusiasm about the Zimbabwe 
ruins, and strongly urged me to go and visit them. This 
merely meant a detour of three weeks, and I therefore 
decided to proceed once more northwards. Before leaving 
I had to part with my headman Major. As I have 
182 



AMONG THE MAKALAKA 

described above, a snake spat in his eye at Linokani six 
months before. He had appeared all right since then, 
but while we were at Monarch the eye got inflamed, and 
the doctor found that a false membrane had formed. He 
advised Major to go and be operated upon at Kimberley, 
and even so he feared that the poor fellow would have to 
get his eye altogether removed. 



183 



CHAPTER IX. 

MASHONALAND 

I LEFT Palapshwe on the 25th of July, and glad indeed 
I was to think that this would be my last experience 
of the villainous approaches to Khama's village. The 
first stage of the journey into Mashonaland was getting 
to Macloutsie. The road diverged almost immediately 
from that which I had followed to Tati on the way 
to Matabeleland, but except for its unspeakable badness 
it does not call for much comment. A good deal of it 
was heavy sand alternating with forest. The oxen were 
good for four or six hours' travelling a day, and we 
got into Macloutsie on the first of August. At this 
station, which, until the colonization of Mashonaland, 
was the northernmost position occupied by British troops, 
I stayed three days. It was the principal post of 
the Bechuanaland Border Police, and I received much 
kindness from the officers of that fine irregular force. 
Sir Frederick Carrington was their colonel at the time, 
and his stories were the delight of everybody. Even 
then he had the reputation of being one of the very 
best British officers who ever came to South Africa, and 
that reputation, I need not remind anybody, he has 
since maintained and heightened by his conduct of the 
recent operations against the Matabele rebels. I had 
met him before on my way to the Victoria Falls, and 
great was his astonishment to find me still on the tramp. 
On the 4th of August we jolted out of Macloutsie 
on the way to Tuli. The journey occupied a week. 



MASHONALAND 

and was only diversified by occasional rumours of lions ; 
but beyond seeing two Dutchmen who had seen two 
lions, I did not add much to my experiences of these 
beasts. Instead of that I added something to my 
already overwhelming experiences of the manners and 
customs of the draught ox, as a great many members 
of my team spent the best part of their time being ill 
and requiring medical attendance. A Dutchman I met 
informicd me that the whole team was suffering from foot 
and mouth disease. " The transport to Mashonaland," he 
added, " is almost stopped through it, but if you follow 
my advice your beasts ought to be all right in a fortnight. 
You must throw each one of them every day and wash 
their feet well with tepid water, then paint them with 
paraffin oil and put a thick coating of waggon grease over 
them. This done, rub their mouths well with powdered 
alum, and pour a thin broth of mustard and water down 
their throats." I then had nineteen oxen, and this meant 
no easy job. Fortunately I possessed all the necessary 
ingredients, and I began forthwith to follow the prescription. 
The worst of it was that I had but four men with me, so 
that the operation took a considerable time ; but the result 
was worthy of the trouble, as before I reached Victoria 
every one of them was all right, and my team was the 
only "salted"* one in the place. 

I reached Tuli on the nth of August, and was now in 
Mashonaland. Civilization at once presented itself in the 
shape of a bar, where it was possible to get a whiskey 
and soda. This was my first experience of that drink 
for eighteen months. Here also I found myself in the 
true frontier society, which is the same all over the 
world. The barman was an excellent fellow, who at 
one time had been well known in London Society. He 
had held a commission in a crack Hussar regiment, and 

* "Salted" is a South African expression, meaning that an animal has 
suffered from a usually fatal disease and, having recovered from it; is proof 
against a fresh attack 

185 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

after running through well over ;£" 100,000 had come 
out here to mix drinks at ;^20 a month; and very well 
he did it. In the bar you might converse with any 
class of society you wished, from the British peer to 
the American cowboy. A good many of them had 
come croppers of one sort or another — that was why 
they were there— but they were all good fellows. 

Tuli then consisted of a small dilapidated fort, at the 
foot of which stood enormous corrugated iron sheds filled 
with stores of all kinds, the remnant of what had been 
sent from the south to feed the first settlers when they 
were cut off from all communication with the Cape 
Colony owing to an extra heavy rainy season ; two or three 
private stores — chief among them being Mr. Julius Weil's 
— and a hotel built of bricks composed the town. But a 
few police were left to guard the place ; their officer — who 
at the same time was acting as local magistrate — was 
Captain Barnett, a most kind and hospitable fellow. I 
took up my quarters at the hotel opened out by Mr. Weil 
on the other side of the Sashi river. This river, nominally 
over half a mile broad, was then dry, but during the rains 
it gets quite full, the water rising to 15 or 16 ft. above 
its bed, so that waggons are often detained for a week, 
or even more, before they can cross it. Here I took out 
my shilling prospector's licence, the only legal preliminary 
to entering the Chartered Company's country, and after 
a week set out for Victoria. Travelling by waggon 
was not the most cheerful or expeditious means of 
getting over the country, though we were on the road 
constructed by the Mashonaland pioneers, which, although 
not perhaps up to the best European standard, was 
quite practicable for African waggons. Hence I was by 
no means displeased when, about half-way to Victoria, 
we were overtaken by the Company's post- cart. This 
was drawn by oxen, and ran once a week from Tuli to 
Salisbury, taking about fifteen days to accomplish the 
journey. Until a year before all the mails had been 
186 



MASHONALAND 

carried by policemen on horseback. These men went 
alone, having during the rains to swim across about fifteen 
rivers. They could find no food on the way, and their 
only supplies for the five days the journey lasted were a 
few tins of corned beef, some biscuits, and a little coffee. 
Daily they had to sleep in a wet blanket, and whenever 
they could do so they rode during the night, the country 
being infested with lions. One of them was once chased 
by seven of the beasts, while another had a lion spring on 
his horse's back, but he managed to shoot the beast, and 
the pony escaped with little injury, being saved by the 
mail bags. Notwithstanding all these dangers, every man 
in the force was anxious to undertake the journey. 

I had been very kindly furnished with passes to use the 
post-carts, and gladly took the opportunity of going on 
ahead, leaving my waggon to follow. My fellow-passengers 
were two clergymen, one of whom, Archdeacon Upcher, 
I found a delightful companion, and the other the re- 
verse, as, with true Christian charity, he was very angry 
at not having the whole cart to himself 

The scenery on the journey up country consisted mainly 
of public-houses and granite kopjes. Of the former we 
passed eighteen between Tuli and Victoria, and of the 
latter a countless number. Their shapes were hardly less 
fantastic than those of the Matopos, though on a somewhat 
smaller scale. The vegetation was of tropical richness, 
especially along the deep valleys of the rivers. We passed 
more than one Mashona village, perched high up among 
the rocks — many of them almost impossible of access. On 
the top of them we could see the heads of the people 
as they squatted high above us, and peered down in a 
way that recalled and justified their Matabele name of 
"baboons." It was very difficult to get at them suffi- 
ciently to have any intercourse, as they were exceedingly 
shy and timorous. Later, however, I managed to get 
the camera to bear upon some of them. They orna- 
ment themselves somewhat liberally with beads, to 
187 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

which they add a touch of civiHzation in the form of 
tin ornaments made out of the white man's discarded 
meat tins. The Mashona are by no means without 
industry and ingenuity. They grow good crops of 
meahes, and some of them are very expert smelters 
and ironworkers. They make pottery also with a certain 
amount of skill. All the same, I cannot call them an 
attractive race, as they are cowardly and incurably given 
to pilfering. The country was then very sparsely inhabited, 
but it only needs irrigation, for which the many rivers give 
great facilities. 

The last part of the journey to Victoria leads through 
a gorge at the foot of Providential Pass, as it is called, 
from the fact that the pioneers on their way up 
country discovered it by an accident. The scenery 
here is enchanting, richly green, with cool streams 
bubbling through the vegetation. The surrounding hills 
are less grotesque in their aspect than those of other 
parts of the country, and possess a graceful charm, 
which, for the most part, is lacking in Africa. The 
township of Victoria was represented at that time by 
a group of straw huts. It was built on a flat plateau, 
and did not seem over healthy ; but that was in early 
days. There were three public-houses, all doing a rattling 
trade. Chief among them was Napier's bar, kept by its 
enterprising owner, whose name has been so often 
mentioned since he acted as colonel of the Bulawayo 
contingent at the beginning of the Matabele rebellion. 
I was put up in a hut in the company of Lord Henry 
Paulet and Major Browne, where I spent a fortnight 
most enjoyably. From visits which I made to the 
neighbouring mines I was greatly impressed with the 
future prospects of this country. They were not of 
course in full working order, but there was no mistaking 
the indications of riches in the samples of quartz and 
assays submitted to me. 

From Victoria I made an excursion to the famous 



MASHONALAND 

ruins of Zimbabwe.* To see these had been one of the 
objects that brought me to Africa ; but as I found 
Mr. Theodore Bent had been before me and made a 
thorough examination of the ruins, I visited them rather 
to satisfy my own curiosity than from any desire or 
expectation of adding anything to the work of an 
eminent archaeologist so much more capable of describ- 



THE OLD FORT AT VICTORIA. 

ing them than myself In this place, therefore, I shall 
only give a brief sketch of the extent and appearance 
of this astonishing phenomenon, referring those who 
wish to make a closer acquaintance with it to the 
admirable monographs of Mr. Bent. 

* The word Zimbabwe, or Zimbabye, as it is called, has puzzled many, 
but I think it can be easily explained. The true signification is clearly 
" House of the chief or master." In Nyasaland the house of a chief is 
called Nyumba ya Mbuye. The letters y and z are often used one for the 
other in the Bantu languages ; for instance, the natives call lake Nyasa 
either Nyanja or else Nyasa, or again Nyanza. Therefore it is probable 
that Nyumba ya Mbuye was pronounced Nzimba ya Mbuye, of which the 
first Portuguese who visited the place made Zimbabowe. The proof of this 
is that de Barros, in his book pubHshed in Lisbon in 1777, speaks of the 
Simbaoes, or palaces of Benomapata, and all the early Portuguese travellers 
call every residence of a chief by this name. 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

One of the most remarkable and baffling features 
of this, as of most parts of savage Africa, is the almost 
absolute lack of any history. Such traditions as I could 
gather from the natives I have for the most part already 
recounted, especially those relative to the origin of the 
Matabele and the recent history of the Zulu race 
generally. I was now about to make acquaintance with 
the most considerable example of another kind of 
historical evidence — if such vague enigmas can be called 
evidence — the extraordinary ruins which are to be 
found in several parts of this vast region. Some of 
these I have briefly noticed already, but the notice has 
been of necessity very brief indeed, because it is 
impossible to find any trustworthy theory concerning 
them. Before visiting Zimbabwe I had seen, as has 
already been said, several ruins which, unimportant in 
themselves, are of interest as being unquestionably of 
similar origin. 

It might be well briefly to recount the lesser ruins I 
had seen before approaching the greatest of these 
romantic puzzles. First, at Tati there were two circles 
on the top of a hill between 40 and 50 yards in diameter. 
The wall, however, is almost entirely destroyed, as the 
stones have been used by miners to build their huts. 
Second, I found another circular wall on a hill to the 
north of Mount Inyangakwe — this also very ruinous. 
Third, on the river Umbukwe, a tributary of the Tati, 
is a ruin on a little rocky eminence. The outer wall 
is in excellent preservation, and you can trace very 
plainly a passage leading into the interior. These 
ruins display work exactly similar to that of Zim- 
babwe, and it can hardly be doubted that they date 
from the same epoch. Fourth, on the river M'pakwe. The 
outer wall here is very dilapidated, but the plan of the 
interior is like that of Zimbabwe in certain respects, 
though on a very much smaller and less elaborate scale. 
Fifth, on the river Lundi, in Mashonaland. Here again 
190 



MASHONALAND 

we find points of similarity to the outer wall of Zim- 
babwe. In all these ruins there still remain distinct signs 
of furnaces which must have been used for smelting gold 
or iron. Those I have named by no means exhaust 
the list ; many others exist along the Semokwe and 
Sabi rivers. These are all circular, and not more than 
40 yards or so in diameter. 

As for the ruins of Zimbabwe, I found nothing more 




THE GREAT WALL, ZIMBABWE. 

interesting in the whole of my journey. Their extent, 
their gigantic proportions, and their general plan indicate 
a loftiness of conception very far superior to the present 
ability of the negro race. They consist of two perfectly 
distinct parts. The first of these stands on a rising 
ground in the middle of a plain. It consists of an 
elliptical, almost circular enclosure, nearly 400 yards in 
circumference, and surrounded by walls varying from 

14 to 30 feet in height. In some parts this wall is nearly 

15 feet thick at the base, and rather more than half as 
much at the summit. The second part of the ruins is 
rather over a quarter of a mile from this enclosure. Here 
a hill rises to a height of some 300 feet above the level 

191 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

of the plain, and on this hill again are found considerable 
ruins. Between the hill and the large walled enclosure 
below, a considerable number of small walls appear to 
indicate the existence of a town defended by a rampart 
on its western side. At one time a river must have 
run at the foot of the hill, for I found a stone nearly 
15 feet high, whose base was worn by the action of a 
somewhat powerful current. 

As for the ruins themselves, I find it quite impossible 
in a brief sketch to convey even an impression of them. 
Both lower and upper structures are a mass of walls so 
elaborate that it is difficult without long practice to find 
your own way about them, much less convey a description 
of their detail to others. 

The lower enclosure seems to have been devoted to 
some kind of worship. In its exterior wall, which is about 
400 yards in circumference, we find three entrances — on 
the N.N.E., on the N.E., and on the W., the first evidently 
the principal entrance. Penetrating into the ruins by this 
entrance (hardly a yard wide) we are stopped by a ditch 
2 yards deep, doubtless dug in great haste as a means of 
defence. On our left towards the S.E. we find a long 
passage, a yard and a half wide, lying between the 
surrounding wall and an interior wall. This passage runs 
towards the south of the ruins and ends in a conical tower 
II or 12 yards high, on the N.N.E. of which are the 
remains of a smaller tower. These two towers are solid, 
and evidently an emblem. On the north of the large tower 
the inner wall stops, and the centre of the ruins is reached 
by a narrow passage, in which the traces of a door are 
found. 

' On the other side (W.) the approaches to the tower 
are equally protected by a wall at right angles to the 
great outer wall and a narrow passage of about a yard 
wide, where a staircase appears to have given access to the 
approaches to the towers. To the left of the first passage 
there is a sort of circular platform, of which the walls 
192 



MASHONALAND 

which skirt the passage leading to the sacred enclosure 
are composed of alternate rows of black and white stones. 

The walls consist of granite, fashioned, without doubt, 
by the hammer. I was not able to discover any trace of 
the chisel. The stones were built up without cement. 
From the east to the south the wall is ornamented and 
topped by little monoliths. Except the weakest part 
of the wall mentioned above, the whole indicates a work 
executed at one period ; it must have been carried out by 
slaves, but on a plan w^ell conceived by an architect. The 
superior ruins above all show a plan admirably conceivedj 
and a true knowledge of the laws of architecture. 

As I have already explained, at the north of the 
enclosure there exist what appear to be the remains of a 
town. Between that and the hill ran, no doubt, a river, 
while a wall protected the settlement on the west. 

On the north side the hill is relatively easy of access, 
but at the top a range of enormous blocks of rock nearly 
20 yards high makes all passage towards the south im- 
possible, except in one place where there is a fissure 
between two rocks where a man may squeeze through 
with great difficulty. It was to the south of these rocks, 
on a platform about 50 yards wide by 120 yards long, that 
the fortress was established ; on the south of this platform 
there is an almost perpendicular precipice of polished rock 
about 30 yards high. It is from this side that one reaches 
the fortress through a narrow fissure in the rock, defended 
on each side by a wall. At the top of the ascent the 
passage turns towards the right along the precipice, at the 
brink of which stands a wall about 10 yards high and 
4 yards wide. ■ In this is arranged a passage which winds 
for nearly 10 yards between two other walls, and in 
the whole length of which staircases appear to have 
existed. At intervals of some yards in this passage are 
little semi-circular platforms built into the wall, evidently 
to accommodate sentinels. To the left there is a rather 
large semi-circular enclosure, and towards the right an 
o 193 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

infinity of little enclosures surrounded by rocks and walls. 
It is in this part of the ruins on the hill that Mr. Bent 
discovered the greater part of his curiosities. At the same 
time, I must say I have been much astonished at the 
comparatively small results of Mr. Bent's researches, and 
I am convinced that numerous documents remain to be 
discovered. All these ruins have half disappeared because 
of the enormous quantity of vegetation that has overgrown 
them. All the interior of the lower ruins is covered by a 
mass of trees and shrubs which prevent the visitor from 
obtaining a view of the whole. 

The most interesting part is without doubt the smelting 
furnace. This is at the extreme south-west corner of 
the ruin, and to reach it you pass through a small 
temple with an altar. You descend a flight of steps to 
the furnace, which is in the darkest corner of the whole 
building. The furnace is constructed of a very hard 
cement apparently made of powdered granite, with a 
chimney of the same substance. Among the things that 
Mr. Bent found here were small crucibles used for smelting, 
and a soapstone mould for casting ingots, apparently of 
Phoenician manufacture. The gold appears to have been 
brought from old workings, many of which have been 
discovered in the neighbourhood. The quartz was crushed 
with huge stones, then washed, then smelted in the 
crucibles, and finally cast in ingots. It is largely on the 
evidence of these processes that the theory has been 
formed that the original builders of Zimbabwe were early 
Arabs, who disposed of their gold in the markets of 
Phoenicia and Egypt. 

But who exactly they were, when they came and how, 
how long they stayed, what was their history, and why 
they disappeared, there is nobody in the world to answer. 
The whole thing is one of the most weird and tantalizing 
problems that can be imagined. The difficulty is increased 
by the fact that parts of the building, and some of the 
implements discovered in the ruins, appear to belong to 
'94 



MASHONALAND - 

a different period of workmanship, inferior to the rest. 
Judging from the early Portuguese records concerning the 
empire of Monomatapa, it appears that three hundred 
years ago the natives of this part of the country enjoyed 
a higher state of civihzation than they do to-day. Never- 
theless, it is impossible to believe that any African natives 
were at any time capable of constructing these extra- 
ordinary works. Zimbabwe is one of the mysteries of the 
world, and at present there appears to be nobody capable 
of finding the key. 

On returning to Victoria I witnessed two important 
functions — the opening of the new township and the 
formation of the volunteer corps. The position of the 
fort, around which stood the old township, consisting, as I 
have said, of a few huts, was deemed unfavourable to the 
building of a town, the water supply being insufficient for 
the growing population. The Chartered Company there- 
fore chose a better site some four miles to the north. 
Plans were drawn of the proposed new town, divided into 
a number of stands, which were put up to auction. At the 
first sale stands realized from £2^, the upstart price, to 
£Ap. When I was there in June, 1892, twenty brick 
houses had already been built, and fine Government 
buildings were nearly completed. 

At a sale of stands which took place just before my 
arrival some reached i^28o. I was myself offered a stand 
on the market-place for £60, but failed to buy it as I 
should have had to build a house, and I knew no one I 
could trust to superintend the work.* As for the formation 
of the volunteer corps, I must explain how it happened. 
When the pioneer expedition was organized, Lord Loch, 
then Governor of the Cape, declined to allow this small 
band of 200 men to proceed some 1000 miles from 
Kimberley without adequate protection in case of attack. 
Therefore a body of police was formed as an escort to the 
pioneers. When these were disbanded, as I shall relate 
* This stand is now worth over ;!^iooo. 
195 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

in a moment, it was still necessary to take measures to 
defend the country in case of unforeseen attack : for that 
purpose the volunteers were organized. The call was 
responded to with alacrity by all. After the township 
was declared open, the volunteers were enrolled by our 
friend, Major Browne, and the men then elected their 
officers. The Colonel-Elect was Lord Henry Paulet, who 
had also been nominated Chairman of the Church Com- 
mittee. That same day poor Wilson was elected Lieutenant, 
and we little thought then that this was to be his death- 
warrant. In the evening all joined in a smoking concert. 
A waggon had been provided to carry back to the old 
township all those whose legs might refuse to carry them 
there ; but the proceedings were most orderly, and the 
evening a very pleasant one. I was able there to judge of 
the good comradeship that existed in this community. 
The election and concert took place in a large room 
adjoining Mr. Napier's new bar. As usual, he was to the 
front, being the first to open a bar in the new Victoria. 
This day must have been a hard one for him, a stream 
of customers constantly pouring into his admirably-kept 
establishment. 

I had had no very definite idea of going any further 
than Victoria, but I found travel in Mashonaland so 
pleasant, and was so struck with the energy of the settlers 
and the intelligence of the Government, that I decided to 
push on and see more. So that after my visit to Zimbabwe 
I soon found myself on the road again. I got rid of my 
waggon, and availed myself of the post-cart from Victoria 
to Salisbury. This post-cart proved to be a two-wheeled 
trolley, and I am bound to say that it formed an exception 
to the general excellence of arrangements in Mashonaland. 
My fellow-traveller was again Archdeacon Upcher, who 
was going up to Salisbury. We had a tremendous struggle 
to get ourselves perched on top of the luggage and mail- 
bags, and were none too comfortable during the seven and 
a half days' journey. The driver also took the opportunity 
196 



MASHONALAND 

to get drunk with a German storekeeper, and upset us 
twice within an hour. The first time was in the 
middle of a river, and, as the baggage came down on top 
of me, it took some time to get me out. On the second 
occasion the exhilarated driver disdained to go round a 
large stone which was in the road, and over we went 
again. However, it was a good deal quicker than waggon 
travelling, and all discomfort was atoned for when I got 
to Salisbury. Here I enjoyed myself enormously, being 
again the guest of Major Browne. Salisbury consisted 
then of a long street with brick houses on both sides. 
The finest building in the place was the Government 
offices, near which Dr. Jameson lived in a circular straw 
hut. There were even several ladies in the place, among 
them Mrs. Caldecott, the wife of the Attorney-General, 
and the wife of Dr. Jameson's secretary. They were all 
young and pretty, and, what with that and the admiration 
of their pluck in coming so far up country, the whole town 
was at their feet. A less pleasing feature was the 
Salvation Army, which was already organized there, and 
even had a newspaper. I don't think I ever met a better- 
hearted lot of men than the Salisbury settlers, from Dr. 
Jameson down to the roughest miner. Hospitality was 
abundant everywhere, and nobody who needed a helping 
hand ever went without it. Everybody was devoted to 
Dr. Jameson, as, indeed, is always the case wherever he 
may be. 

I may now, perhaps, be allowed to give a brief summary 
of what had been done in the Chartered Company's 
territory up to the time of my visit, with such references 
to subsequent progress as may be necessary to an estimate 
of the prospects of the country. 

The country was secured for the British Empire, as 
everybody knows, by the energy and foresight of Mr. 
Cecil Rhodes. But everybody does not perhaps know 
how nearly Mr. Rhodes failed of this achievement, or, 
to put it more accurately, how near these vast and 
197 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

valuable territories were to being secured by others when 
Mr. Rhodes stepped forward at the critical moment and 
added the magnificent prize to the British Empire. 

As early as 1885 the Boers had cast covetous eyes on 
this country, the richest agricultural land in South Africa. 
Even before this, in 1882, they had endeavoured to get a 
concession of it from Lo Bengula, but without success. 
President Kruger, indeed, alleged in 1888 that such a 
treaty had been signed ; but he was not able to produce 
the least jot of evidence for his assertion, and there is no 
doubt whatever that it was false. Besides the Boers, the 
Germans, who had already to some extent occupied their 
present sphere of influence in South-West Africa, were 
preparing to advance upon Matabeleland, attracted thither 
by the glowing reports of their fellow-countryman, Herr 
Weber. The Portuguese, on the other side, had long laid 
claim to Lo Bengula's empire, and had coloured it as their 
own on official maps. 

In 1888 Mr. Rhodes, aware of the danger, and having 
received information that the Boers were sending an 
embassy to Lo Bengula, urged the High Commissioner 
to lose no time in securing the first claim to the country. 
Mr. Rhodes's foresight saved this magnificent province 
from the grasp of the Boers, as, just as a treaty had been 
made between Lo Bengula and Mr. J. S. Moffatt, by which 
the King bound himself to abstain from making any 
concession to any other Power than Britain, the Boer 
envoy arrived in Bulawayo, only to find that his journey 
had been useless. But this agreement could only be 
considered as a provisional measure, for under the Berlin 
Act no claim for territory in Central Africa could 
be recognized which was not supported by effective 
occupation. What was wanted, then, was that such 
effective occupation should be provided, and this was the 
supreme service rendered by Mr. Rhodes. The celebrated 
embassy of Messrs. Rochfort Maguire, Rudd, and 
Thompson secured from the Matabele King the con- 
iq8 



MASHONALAND 

cession of mineral rights for Mashonaland. This was 
submitted to Her Majesty's Government along with 
schemes for development. At the end of April, 1889, 
about six months later, the Government granted a charter 
to the British South Africa Company, and its directors set 
to work in earnest. The pioneer expedition of one 
hundred and sixty-five settlers, with three hundred 
mounted police, was collected at Macloutsie, on the 
northern frontier of the Bechuanaland Protectorate, and 
started north under the leadership of Colonel Pennifather, 
on June 28th, 1890. The difficulties they had to contend 
with were enormous. They had to march a thousand 
miles through country hardly known to any white man. 
Besides this, a vast deal of decision was required to avoid 
collision with the natives, as the expedition was watched 
and followed by a strong Matabele impi. The pioneers 
had to form laager every night, and use an electric search- 
light to make sure against surprise. No member of the 
force was allowed to fire a shot even at game. Thanks 
to these precautions the natives became gradually assured, 
first, that the white men had no hostile intentions, and 
secondly, whether they had or not, that it would be hardly 
safe to attack them. In three months they reached 
Mount Hampden, building a road as they went along, and 
erecting forts at Tuli, Victoria, Charter, and Salisbury. 
After this the expedition was disbanded, and the work 
of prospecting and colonizing begun. 

I will now review the progress that had been made 
at the time I reached Mashonaland in 1892. Considerable 
difficulties had been encountered in consequence of the 
influx of more or less destitute settlers on the heels of the 
original pioneers. The country as yet was not capable 
of supplying the necessities of these men, and all the 
stores had to be sent up from the Cape Colony. The 
rains in the first year had been exceptionally severe, and 
this made the difficuly of getting up supplies all the more 
difficult. Early in 1891 the colony had lost its first 
199 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

administrator, Mr. Colquhoun, who had suffered much 
from the effects of the chmate. His successor was Dr. 
Jameson, who had accompanied the pioneer expedition, 
and after spending some time at Fort SaHsbury had 
made an adventurous journey through Gazaland to the 
coast. Dr. Jameson's first task was to resist outside 
aggression. The Boers had organized a great trek of 
5000 men to seize the territory of the Company. 
President Kruger, it is true, had been compelled to 
withdraw his official support from the expedition, though 
only after the strongest remonstrances from the High 
Commissioner. Nevertheless 400 armed Boers started 
to cross the Crocodile river. But when they appeared. 
Dr. Jameson, by the exercise of great tact and the 
exhibition of a Maxim gun, persuaded them to turn 
back, permitting only such to come into the country as 
were willing to sign an agreement to conform to the 
Company's laws. After that there had been difficulties 
with the Portuguese. These, however, were solved by 
the so-called battle of Massi-Kesse, in which Captain 
Heyman with forty half-clothed, half-fed policemen put 
to flight a little Portuguese army of 600 men. Another 
difficulty which engaged the attention of Dr. Jameson 
when he took up the administration in June, .1891, was 
concerned with the police, who had accompanied the 
pioneer expedition up country. As there was nothing 
left for them to do, and idleness was not good for them, 
he decided on disbanding them, and most of them became 
admirable settlers. 

In spite of all these difficulties, the progress that had 
been made in the year and a half between the first 
expedition and the time that I arrived in the country was 
nothing less than astounding. Out of the eighteen months 
ten had been rendered practically useless by rain, during 
which no work could be done. Everything had to be 
organized in the eight months of possible work. Town- 
ships had been laid out and partly erected at Tuli, 



MASHONALAND 

Victoria, and Salisbury. The early settlers had lived 
in huts of grass, straw, and mud, but these were already 
largely replaced by rows of well-built brick houses. At 
Salisbury the Government had just erected fine buildings 
at a cost of nearly iJ"20,ooo. There were Law Courts, 
where the magistrates sat daily, hotels, excellent stores, 
and at Salisbury even a music-hall, where Mdlle. Blanche, 
a French lady of little more than fifty summers, sang 
" Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay." The confidence of the natives 




THE rOST-CART. 



had been won, and they were ready to undertake work for 
the whites. A great deal of prospecting had been done, 
many shafts sunk, and more than one property proved 
to show excellent promise of richly-paying gold. Many 
farms had been put under cultivation, and in Salisbury 
there was never any difficulty in getting fresh vegetables. 
A very competent farmer, Mr. Moodie, had been des- 
patched towards the eastern border with a large party of 
settlers to develop the agricultural resources of that part 
of the country. A good road, if rather rough, was to be 
found all the way from Tuli to Salisbury, a distance of 
about 400 miles. The post-cart, as has been seen, was 
201 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

primitive in those days, but very handy ; while the 
telegraph wire was already completed to the capital, 
having been constructed from Kimberley northwards, a 
distance of more than looo miles. 

I think it will be admitted that these results, attained 
in eighteen months in the face of the most extraordinary 
difficulties, were little short of miraculous. I know that 
the enemies of the Chartered Company are in the habit 
of calling anybody who sees any good in the work it has 
done prejudiced and self-interested, and similar names. 
I can only say that as a Frenchman, with nothing 
whatever to gain by admiring a British colony, my 
observations and the conclusions I came to were wholly 
disinterested. As for prejudice, so far from having any 
prepossession in favour of the Company, I entered 
Mashonaland strongly prejudiced against it. I conceived 
it to be a monopoly working only for itself, and con- 
tracting and crushing the individual energies of others. 
I found it to be conspicuously the reverse. I have 
visited a great many new and partially developed 
countries in my life, including colonies of every nation 
on earth that has colonies at all : I can truthfully say 
that in none did I find a more admirable administra- 
tion than I found in Mashonaland. The country was 
extraordinarily free from burdensome duties and from 
vexatious red tape. I remember, in one of the various 
papers at the time of the French expedition to 
Madagascar, a caricature which gives a very good 
epitome of the situation in many imperial colonies, and 
in all those of my own country and other Continental 
Powers. Crowds of Hovas were depicted looking out to 
sea through telescopes at a large fleet which was 
approaching. " They are coming ! they are coming ! " 
exclaimed the crowd. " Who ? " asked one of the by- 
standers, " the colonists ? " " No," was the reply, " the 
officials." Having been present myself at the French 
occupation of Madagascar, I know this picture to be 
202 



MASHONALAND 

exactly true to fact. In every colony except those of 
Britain the end and aim of the Government appears to 
be not the development of trade, but the filling up of 
the country as soon as possible with useless officials. 
The British South Africa Company avoided this mistake. 
Its officials were few, but most of them thoroughly ac- 
quainted with the management of natives, its system 
simple and practical. The country was divided into 
districts, each under a magistrate, who acted both as police 
magistrate and county court judge. Rough as the settlers 
were, the amount of serious crime among them was 
wonderfully small. As for the natives, if there was a fault 
in the administration of justice at all, it was that they were 
too leniently treated. For this mistake, as I take it to 
have been, both before and after the conquest of Mata- 
beleland the Company has had to pay very heavily. 
Knowing more than most Europeans have occasion to 
know of the manners and disposition of the African 
native, I may truthfully confess that the recent rising 
in Matabeleland and Mashonaland was produced far 
more by over-leniency in the treatment of the natives 
than by over - severity. For instance, the use of the 
whip, which is permitted and regulated by law in other 
parts of Africa, including British possessions, was for- 
bidden by statute in Mashonaland. I think this was a 
mistake. It must be remembered that before the advent 
of the white man the only notion of punishment which 
the Mashona had was death, accompanied by the massacre 
of his whole village. To the man nurtured in these tradi- 
tions imprisonment has naturally no terrors. On the 
contrary, the food in prison is better than what he is 
accustomed to, the housing is better, and he receives a 
term of imprisonment rather as a piece of good luck 
than otherwise. But if the Company's Government made 
a mistake in forbidding the use of the lash, that made 
it, not less, but much more wonderful that the thousands 
of natives were kept in such excellent order. The laws 
203 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

against the sale of intoxicating liquor to the blacks 
were exceedingly severe. It was the one part of Central 
Africa where the sale of intoxicating liquors was absolutely 
forbidden. When we consider that in the neighbouring 
Congo State black labour is usually paid in gin, so 
poisonous that the lowest white navvy would refuse to 
touch it, we shall get some idea of the self-denial and 
the wisdom of the Chartered Company in setting its 
face against any such abuse in the territories under its 
rule. 

But perhaps the most remarkable feature of the whole 
government was the prudence with which, while dis- 
couraging speculation, it fostered individual enterprise. 
The taxes imposed on the settlers were only those abso- 
lutel}^ necessary to recoup the cost of administration. 

The only tax levied on the incoming settler was the 
paltry sum of a shilling, which is paid for the prospecting 
licence. This licence confers the right of searching for 
minerals and of pegging out twenty claims, and each new- 
comer on receiving it has to sign an undertaking to submit 
to the Company's laws. As soon as claims are pegged out 
the holders must set to work at developing them, and they 
must be registered by the mining commissioner within 
fifteen days. Within four months of this registration the 
claimholder must do development work by sinking a shaft 
of at least thirty feet, after which his property must be 
inspected by the mining commissioner, who then grants 
him a certificate stating his title. In each succeeding year 
he must do sixty feet of shafting, drives, or tunnels, and 
take out a similar inspection certificate. Failing to do so, 
he is deemed to have abandoned his property. Each 
claim is 1 50 feet long in the direction of the reef, and 600 
feet wide. The charges for registration and certificate are 
very smiall ; beyond these the prospector is subjected to 
no impost until he disposes of his property. 

When the holder of a claim has so disposed of his property 
the Company has the right to take 50 per cent, of the price 
204 



I 



MASHONALAND 

received for it."^ A good many people have grumbled at 
this, and thought the charge excessive. Grumbling comes 
naturally to the Englishman ; and I have no doubt 
that some people would find much to complain of in 
heaven. Upon the other hand, we must remember that 
the Chartered Company, like several other governments, 
must somehow raise funds to pay its expenses. It seems 
to me that the expedient the Company has hit upon is 
eminently reasonable, and falls far less heavily upon the 
miner, especially the miner without capital, than do the 
regulations of other goldfields. The poor man has only 
to pay for his prospecting licence and the small fees due 
on registration. The amount of work required by law he 
can do with his own hands. So that if the Company does 
take half the purchase money when he sells his mine, it 
takes what after all is clear profit, and leaves the owner 
a very handsome gain for himself In other mining 
countries the claimholder has to pay from 5s. to los. a 
month for each claim. If the money is not forthcoming, 
the property is forfeited. Now, supposing a man has 
pegged out ten claims, he must, in these countries, pay 
from £^0 to £60 a year until he finds a purchaser. This, 
it will be readily understood, is a heavy drain upon a poor 
man's pocket. I know of many cases in which miners, 
after struggling for some time to keep up with these 
payments, have been obliged to forfeit valuable property 
on which they had spent pretty well every penny they 
had in the world. The better a mine was, the longer they 
struggled, and therefore the more they lost when in the 
end poverty compelled them to give it up. No man need 
fear this disaster in Rhodesia. 

It must be borne in mind, again, that the miners in 
Mashonaland and Matabeleland are free from the crushing 

* This right has never been exercised, and 35 per cent, is the most that has 
ever been claimed. And I can only refer those who complain of this to the 
new regulations about to be issued by the Mozambique Company, by which 50 
per cent, of the whole of the shares of each Company will have to be handed 
over to the Mozambique Company. 

205 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

burdens imposed, for instance, by the South African 
Repubhc. No Customs duties are imposed on produce of 
any kind. So far from the country being monopoly ridden, 
as I had supposed it to be before I visited it, it is a paradise 
of freedom compared with the Transvaal. Food is far 
cheaper, native labour is far cheaper, and, to take a case 
peculiarly applicable to the mining industry, explosives 
cost about 62s. per case of 50 lbs., while in the Transvaal, 
thanks to the monopoly system, they cost 85 s. And this, 
it must be remembered, although the difficulties of trans- 
port into Rhodesia are at present infinitely greater than 
those presented by the journey to Johannesburg. 

As to the mines themselves, it was too early when I 
visited Mashonaland in 1892 to form any exact idea of 
their value. Since then, first the Matabele War, which 
interrupted work and sent more than half the population 
westward, and later the rising of the Matabele and the 
Mashonas, have been an exceedingly heavy handicap 
upon the development of Mashonaland. It requires at 
least two years of work under the most favourable circum- 
stances to open up a mine ; and although many of the 
mines of Mashonaland have been open for twice that 
time, there are comparatively few to which this amount of 
steady work has been devoted. I should say, although I 
cannot claim to be a mining expert, that on the whole 
Mashonaland in not so rich in gold as Matabeleland. I 
also think that it will be impossible to do justice to any 
of the richest mines until they are connected by rail 
with the coast. The rates of transport are terribly high, 
and inevitably so. When the two lines now rapidly under 
construction have converged upon Salisbury the cost will 
be very different. I may, however, take a case — not from 
Mashonaland, it is true, but from Matabeleland — which 
shows that, even with the present costly rates of transport, 
there are mines in the country which can be worked with 
large profit. From the Dunraven mine alone, many 
thousand tons of ore have been taken out, yielding on the 
206 



MASHONALAND 

average one ounce of gold a ton. The working is reckoned 
to cost about 5 dwt. per ton, leaving a net profit — taking 
gold at ;^3 per ounce — of £2 \2s. 6d. per ton. On this 
mine the machinery is capable of crushing at least 150 
tons a day. Counting only 200 working days in a year, 
30,000 tons would be crushed, and a net profit realized 
of £7?>2^. On this mine therefore it is plain that the 
expenses of transporting machinery can easily be borne. 

At present transport from Beira to Salisbury comes 
to about £21 a ton, and from Cape Town to Bulawayo 
to from ^20 to about £2^, according to the season. With 
the completion of the railways the rates in each case will 
come down to about £12 per ton, a reduction of at least 
40 per cent., and in some cases a good deal over 50 per 
cent. 

Another difficulty in Rhodesia, as in the Transvaal, is 
the question of native labour. The natives, I need hardly 
say, hate work in any form, and especially continuous 
work. If a native makes a pound a month, as many do, 
a very few months' work will put him in possession of 
what he regards as an enormous fortune, on which he 
can buy women to keep him in idleness for a year or 
two. He may be engaged on a six months' contract ; 
but that makes no difference to him — as soon as he finds 
himself a moneyed man off he goes. Then you must get 
in a fresh hand to take his place, and you must begin the 
training of this man from the very beginning. This was 
always a difficulty, and at the present time, after the 
insurrection, it is of course a greater difficulty than ever. 
Probably it will only be overcome by time. As the 
country settles down the natives will be more willing to 
come in from the neighbouring countries and earn money 
— an opportunity which of course did not exist under 
the sanguinary misrule of the Matabele. Another cause 
which will gradually operate to furnish a more continuous 
supply of native labour will be the civilization of the 
natives. By contact with the whites they will acquire 
207 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

fresh wants, and have to work in order to satisfy them. 
To civihze them, to raise their moral standard, can only 
be done by compelling tKem to work, and although this 
may at first sight appear unfair to them, it is, after all, 
only what exists in every civilized country, where the man 
who remains idle is punished as a rogue and vagabond. 
This principle is the keynote of Mr. Rhodes's whole native 
policy, whether in Charterland or in the Cape Colony. 
Some sensitive philanthropists, with more heart than head, 
have been pained at the thought of the white man teach- 
ing the black man to want things he had never wanted 
before, and then making a profit out of the labour by 
which alone the black man can satisfy these new wants. 
The civilized man and the savage may be equal in that 
each .one can satisfy in equal measure the wants he feels ; 
but surely the highest and completest type of man is he 
who wants most, and from his wants derives most satis- 
faction. 

From an agricultural point of view there can be little 
doubt that Mashonaland is one of the most promising 
territories, if not quite the most promising, in the 
whole of Africa. The occupier of a farm, like the 
occupier of a mine, is required to do a certain amount of 
development work within a given time, if only to secure 
his title. Land can be bought in Mashonaland at is. 6d. 
for a morgan, which is a little over two acres. The buyer 
is subject to an annual quit-rent, payable in advance, of 
;^3 for 1500 morgan, and 4s. for every additional 100. The 
experiments in farming have, up to the present, met with 
considerable success, and shown promise of even greater 
things in the future. Water is plentiful and irrigation 
easy. The grass is excellent when put into proper con- 
dition. It is an unfortunate consequence of the Matabele 
raids, which made it impossible for the Mashonas to keep 
any considerable herd of cattle, that the grass has grown 
exceedingly long, in many parts to a height of 12 feet. 
In Matabeleland the King's cattle ate it off, so that in this 
208 



MASHONALAND 

country the pasture is short and sweet. In Mashonaland, 
and still more in Gazaland, on the way up from Beira, the 
long grass rots during the rains, and fever is the result. 
But the disappearance of this is naturally a question of 
time. As the land comes into cultivation, and the grass 
is first burned and then fed down, the value of the land 
will improve enormously. With the disappearance of the 
great fever-breeder, this long, rotting grass, the country 




MASHONA WOMEN. 



will become in proportion healthier. As this process goes 
on horse-sickness will likewise disappear, and the tsetse 
fly — which, even as it is, is not actually found in Mashona- 
land — will retire from Gazaland before civilization. 

I mentioned above that Mr. Moodie, a skilled agricul- 
turist, started farming experiments on a large scale 
about the time I was in Mashonaland. The result of 
these experiments I did not see myself, but perhaps it will 
not be out of the way to give a rough sketch of them. 
Mr. Moodie was accompanied at first by twenty Europeans, 
who, before very long, increased to nearly six hundred. 
I' 209 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

The country occupied was along the Sabi river. His 
report of the agricultural possibilities of this country is 
exceedingly favourable. Cultivation, thanks to the facili- 
ties for irrigation, can be carried on both in winter and 
summer. All European cereals have been grown with 
good results. Mr. Moodie has also conducted very inter- 
esting experiments with tobacco ; and though there is 
doubtless much to learn and to do in the way of importing 
the best plants suitable to the soil, even at present the 
tobacco of Mashonaland is largely smoked in the country, 
and is found greatly preferable to the products of other 
parts of South Africa. Two crops a year can be grown. 
As a pastoral country this part of Mashonaland is similarly 
attractive. Cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, and poultry are 
thriving exceedingly. A good deal of attention has been 
given to the leather trade. Barks suitable for tanning 
have been found on the spot, and there is no doubt that 
this industry has a future before it. The same may be 
said of lumbering : the district is full of excellent timber, 
and with the starting of sawmills all the requirements of 
Mashonaland can be supplied, while it would be possible, 
Mr. Moodie thinks, even to institute a profitable export 
trade. 

But what, it may be asked, is the use of all this 
information.'' Is it not now entirely irrelevant? Have 
not, first, the recent native rising, and secondly, the rinder- 
pest, put an end to every kind of work, whether mining 
or agricultural ? It must be acknowledged that this is to a 
great extent true. The loss during the native rising was 
ruinous. Mr. Selous in his latest book has quoted a 
number of claims for damages made up to the 15th 
August, 1896. These refer to Matabeleland alone, and 
perhaps, on the whole, Mashonaland has not suffered so 
severely. Nevertheless, they are worth summarizing as 
an example of the wholesale losses which the white 
settlers have undergone. Nearly 1500 acres of growing 
crops were destroyed, and more than 21,000 trees, with 150 
210 



MASHONALAND 

homesteads, besides 7788 agricultural and other imple- 
ments stolen or destroyed. The head of stock carried 
off or killed amounted to nearly 30,000, without counting 
poultry. The sum paid in compensation up to the 
15th August was ;^iii,439. There were 371 claims in 
course of settlement, while for Matabeleland the total 
filed was over 800. But disastrous as the rebellion has 
proved, the rinderpest has been even more so. It has 
made the development of the country impossible for the 
present, as the destruction of draught oxen has sent 
rates of transport up so high that the cost of living is 
practically prohibitive. Stock farming and dairy farming- 
have of course disappeared, while the destruction of the 
oxen has similarly made ploughing and the transport of 
agricultural produce almost impossible. The country 
must now stand still for a while in military occupation, 
until railways come up from Mafeking and Beira. 

Yet after all, the results attained in Mashonaland and 
Matabeleland, which I have briefly summarized, are still 
relevant and of the greatest importance. The first 
requisite in settling any territory in South Africa is to 
know of what industrial developments it is capable. 
This has been shown in the case of Rhodesia. No 
candid consideration can fail to lead to the conclusion 
that these countries are among the most valuable in 
South Africa. 

Although much of the work already done — at any 
rate in the way of agriculture — has been wasted so 
far as its immediate results are concerned, the experience 
gained will serve as a most valuable guide for that recon- 
sideration of the country which must now be entered 
upon. After all, Mashonaland and Matabeleland are 
to-day as rich as ever they were. Much capital may 
have been lost, but the fine land is still there, the 
minerals are still there, the temperate climate is still 
there, the white man is still there. When the railways 
are there also, the reconstruction and repopulation of 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

the country will present no difficulties worthy to be 
mentioned by the side of those which have already been 
overcome. Never for one moment has my faith in the 
future of these countries faltered, and I believe just as 
strongly to-day that Rhodesia will be one of the greatest 
countries in Africa as I did when I first visited it five 
years ago.* 




A MASHONA VILLAGE. 



* This was written in 1896, and since then the extraordinary rapidity with 
which the railway to Bulawayo has been built has proved how right I was 
to beheve in the future of this magnificent country. Mr. Rhodes's foresight 
has surmounted all the obstacles in his path ; and while, on the one hand, 
the disasters that have befallen Rhodesia one after the other have caused the 
loss of a year in the development of the country, on the other, the marvellous 
rapidity with which the Mafeking-Bulawayo railway has been pushed forward 
has placed Rhodesia in a position that the province would not otherwise have 
attained — before, at least, half a dozen years hence. The best proof of the 
absolute confidence placed in the country and its administration by those who 
are on the spot is the fact that, notwithstanding last year's disasters, there has 
been no drop, but rather an increase, in the value of property. 



CHAPTER X. 

FROM SALISBURY TO TETE 




HAVING collected all the information I required, I 
began to think about my future plans. I did not 
wish to return by the way I had come ; I was anxious 
to visit the Portuguese territory, and I 
consulted Dr. Jameson as to the best 
way of reaching Tete. He strongly ad- 
vised me not to go straight to Tete, as 
little or no water was to be found on 
the way ; he suggested that I should 
go to Zumbo, an easier way, which 
would also enable me to visit the Sinoia 
caves. Having completed my arrange- 
ments, I left Salisbury at half-past ten 
at night on the loth of October, 1892, 
and camped outside the town. Dr. 
Jameson had kindly lent me a Scotch 
cart, and Mr. Borrow (who was after- 
wards killed with Major Wilson) some oxen. The Scotch 
cart proved too small, and I hired a waggon at a farm 
a day or two's journey out of the town. 

The country through which we were travelling was 
mostly open and undulating, with bush here and there. 
At times, however, we had to cross heavy swamps, and 
with a waggon these were no joke. As we approached 
Sinoia the bush became thicker and the country most 
mountainous. 

During the first week of the journey there was no 
213 



TYPE OF MAKOLOKOLO 
(SinoVa, Mashonaland). 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

incident worth recording except that one day we passed 
some deserted huts, to which a very pathetic story was 
attached. They had been built by a Dutch family, every 
member of which was sick the whole time they were 
there. The first huts they had built were burned ; then the 
father died, then one of the children, and then another, 
who was shot by accident by his brother. We hear a 
good deal of the successful pioneer, but not much of 
the failures, of which this was a very typical case. 

On the 1 6th October we reached the camp of Mr. 
Spreckley, Mining Commissioner, who has of late dis- 
tinguished himself in the wars with, the Matabele, as 
everybody knows. Thence we went next day to see the 
celebrated caves of Sinoia, the finest and most extra- 
ordinary sight I saw in this part of the world. The 
caves are at the foot of a hill about seven miles west 
of Sino'ia's kraal. From the top you first perceive a 
deep hole about 400 feet by 250, cut in the rock, the 
bottom of which it is impossible to see. Two passages 
lead down this pit. The easier of them is a long, steep 
tunnel which leads down to the water at the bottom. 
Here is a large pool surrounded by huge precipitous 
walls of rock some 300 feet high. The water is extra- 
ordinarily limpid, and its colour is a deep, rich blue. The 
descent by the other passage is even more striking. You 
find in the middle of a native kraal a deep gully, at the 
bottom of which is a small tunnel almost perpendicular : 
a shaft would be a better name for , it. Entering the 
tunnel, we were plunged in complete darkness and had 
to light lanterns. In our ears was a loud buzzing sound, 
not unlike the noise made by a fire kindled in a strong 
wind. As we descended we found numerous recesses 
filled up with pillars of bark covered with mud, which 
are used by the natives to store grain in case of attack. 
Then the tunnel suddenly turned to the right, and 
passing over a huge flat rock, we found the explanation 
of the noise we had heard. Myriads of bats were 
214 



FROM SALISBURY TO TETE 

flying about in the darkness. They hit us on the face 
and all over the body every second. To give an idea 
of tJie enormous numbers of them, I may say that by 
merely taking a stick and waving it about I knocked 
down dozens. We passed through two chambers covered 




THE CAVE OF SINOlA. 



with a thick layer of guano, the roof and walls alive 
with bats, which made such a tremendous whirr that 
it was impossible to hear oneself speak. Descending 
the tunnel further we came at last to an opening, whence 
from a small platform of rock we looked straight down 
into the water. It is of a most wonderful blue colour, 
215 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

much darker than the Blue Grotto at Capri, and so 
clear that I could see the bottom, which was certainly a 
hundred feet down. From the spot where we were a 
sort of ladder of sticks led down to the water and over 
the rocks along its edge. These are used by the natives 
to get down in case of attack ; when the sticks are taken 
away it is quite impossible for any pursuer to follow. 
Mr. Spreckley told me that if you swim in this water 
your legs drop down and it is impossible to keep them 
level with the surface. This is not due to any suction 
in the water, but, according to him, to its extreme 
lightness. The reverse of this phenomenon is found in 
such waters as those of the Dead Sea and the Great 
Salt Lake in America. 

I had only engaged the waggon to go as far as 
Mr. Spreckley's camp, so that it was necessary to enlist 
some porters. Mr. Spreckley kindly got twenty boys 
from the chief of Sinoia, and at the same time sent his 
two policemen to the kraal of Shinanga, a neighbouring 
chief, to try to get forty more. Of course the chief pro- 
mised them, and of course they did not come. The only 
thing to do was to adopt Mr. Spreckley's suggestion — that 
we should put all the loads on the boys we had already, 
and then go with him to Shinanga's. This we did — a 
tedious march of eight hours across very bushy and un- 
dulating country. Spreckley shot two fine sable antelopes 
on the way. At sundown we reached the village of the 
chief, who was fertile in the usual excuses. He had not 
understood the policemen, said he, but the boys would be 
ready in the morning without fail. I need not say that 
they did fail ; and when Shinanga was questioned on the 
subject he was full of the most ingenious falsehoods. One 
had gone to fetch his sandals, another had had to go to 
fetch food, and so on and so on. At last we took strong 
measures, and began to drive the cattle out of the kraal. 
Twelve boys appeared instantly, and others soon followed. 
I divided the loads, and started at about half-past eight 

2l6 



FROM SALISBURY TO TETE 




in the morning. The country we followed was hilly and 
cut by numerous ravines, at the bottom of which ran small 
rivers, affluents of the Panyami, which ran about 50 miles 
to the west of our road. 

On October 23rd we crossed the Mopingue river and 
reached Sepolilo's kraal. The chief himself had been 
made prisoner by the Portuguese some four years before. 
His son and substitute, Sagamuga, received us very well. 
Apparently he was not very 
much in love with the sweets 
of power, as he begged me 
to intercede with the Portu- 
guese to obtain the release 
of Sepolilo. It appeared 
that the Portuguese had 
come into this part of the 
country, hoisting flags at 
each kraal. At Lomun- 
ganda's the people left the 
flag flying, whereon Lo Ben 
promptly sent an impi to 
wipe them out. Sepolilo, 
on the other hand, refused 

to have the flag, and pulled it down when it was hoisted. 
Hearing of this, the Governor of Zumbo sent for him on 
pretence of giving him a present, and made him prisoner. 
Such was the story told by his son, but I have since found 
out that he had been arrested for having killed several 
Portuguese. 

Sagamuga came to me next morning and said that as 
we were going to inquire after his father, it was only right 
that he should accompany us, and he would give us boys 
as porters. Knowing the ways of the natives, I had 
no very great confidence that the boys would appear. 
However, I gave him a blanket in return for some meal, at 
which he was vastly pleased. Of course the boys were not 
present the next morning, nor yet the next. On the third 
217 



^EPOLIIOS SON. 




THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

day the chief appeared with any number of Hes in his 

mouth, and at last offered to give me boys to go to the 

junction of the Angwe and Panyami rivers, if I would 

give each man a blanket in advance. He also repeated 

his offer to come with us. I agreed 

to give the blankets, but declined to 

part with them until the men were 

actually ready to start. Thereon they 

adjourned to eat, which means to talk 

over the matter once more ; they had 

■ -^ done nothing but talk over the matter 

y- for three days. But to my astonish- 

*^ ment they actually did appear that 

afternoon. I gave nine men a blanket 

apiece, whereon four more immediately 

appeared. We left Sepolilo's at three, 

TYPE AT sepolilo's '^^^'^ marchcd three hours. 

Next day we were off again at a 
quarter to six in the morning, and by nine had reached 
the kraal of Simanikiri. This potentate gave me a large 
basket of meal and a fowl as a present, and received 
a present in return. We bought a good many eggs 
from the people, but as they could never be induced 
to bring more than seven or eight at a time, trade 
became a rather tedious process, especially as nine out 
of ten eggs were rotten. Leaving the kraal at half-past 
three, we soon reached the Nyamanga Mountains ; thence 
we descended a deep valley, and thence again a steep 
climb brought us to the top of a hill, which commanded 
a most splendid view over the plains towards the Zam- 
bezi. A tedious descent of nearly 2000 feet, down 
nearly perpendicular rocks, brought us into the Zambezi 
valley. There the aspect of the country changed alto- 
gether : we were in a big plain covered with dense 
elephant grass. The heat was almost unbearable, and 
the stings of the tsetse fly absolutely maddening. To 
the next day a certain amount of interest was imparted 
218 



FROM SALISBURY TO TETE 

by the disappearance of my donkey with Charley, one of 
the boys. I sent men after them, having some sort of 
idea that the boy might have been killed by natives. 
Hours and hours passed, and still nobody. I sent more 
men, and towards evening these returned with the report 
that they had found Charley done up, and had shown him 
where to get water. It afterwards appeared that he had 
said he was afraid to come back without the donkey until 
night had fallen. Accordingly at dusk he did turn up. 
As he had nothing whatever to do except to look after 
the donkey, I fined him £i. I greatly felt the loss of 
the animal, as to walk in this terrible heat was almost 
overpowering. 

Next day we marched to the Dandi river, through 
very high grass, with any amount of fresh spoor of buffalo, 
rhinoceros, zebra, and wild pig, halting at a kraal called 
Banyanda. The chief said he would show us a short cut 
to the junction of the Dandi and Panyami, and offered 
to give us guides to lead us. In return he wanted a 
piece of cloth for himself and for each of the two 
guides, to be paid in advance. Of course, as soon as 
they had the stuff the men went back to their kraal. I 
had to storm and rage a good deal before they would 
condescend to leave. The next day we reached the 
Panyami just below the junction. Here Sepolilo's son 
declared that he would not go any further, nor would 
his men. He had been paid to go as far as the Angwe, 
several days further on, but as he was thoroughly un- 
trustworthy, and a great nuisance, I was rather glad to 
get rid of him. 

Partly before this and partly after I learnt what a 
thorough- paced scoundrel Sagamuga was. Some time 
before I reached his village an Englishman died there 
very mysteriously, and I need not say that nobody ever 
saw his death certificate. The very day before we 
arrived, a Portuguese trader was tied up to a post by 
him, and only released at the report of our approach. 
219 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

But that was far from being the worst of him, so far 
as I was personally concerned. A morning or two 
before he left us, while we were at breakfast, one of 
the men came and told me that he had overheard a 
plot which this rascal had concocted to detain me in 
the village where we had halted, and cut my throat 
that night. After breakfast I went up to the chief and 
pretended to admire his gun. While I did so I stuck 
a bit of match in the nipple and put back the cap over 
it. When I gave orders to start, the chief began to 
make the usual excuses. It was too late to start that 
day, we should not get any water, and so on, with all 
the tiresome lies I knew so well. I merely repeated my 
orders, and then he grew very angry. 

" No white man," he said, " shall make me do what 
I don't want to do." 

" Perhaps not," said I ; " but I recommend you to alter 
your mind." Thereupon I took a whip, and added, "When 
I engage a man he has to obey my orders." That brought 
him to his senses. He got up and I made him march 
in front of me, keeping a very careful look-out upon 
his movements But I got very tired of this, and a 
few hours later, having caught sight of a wild pig, I 
went to shoot it. Just as I had fired I caught sight of 
my friend Sagamuga, who was aiming his gun at me. 
Fortunately I had put that match in the nipple, so that 
it missed fire. I had a good mind to shoot him, but I 
thought better of it, remembering that I had only two 
men I could rely upon, while he was accompanied by 
a lot of his followers. I was therefore rather glad to 
get rid of him. 

There were natives at the junction of the rivers, and 
their chief, Mashumpa, received us kindly. When I asked 
for ten fresh porters, about twenty came forward most eager 
to go, and I engaged fourteen. In spite of the friendliness 
of the chief, he would not come to our camping-ground. 
And when I brought him a red blanket as a present 
220 



FROM SALISBURY TO TETE 



he sprang up from his seat under a tree and bolted for 
dear hfe ! It appeared that his spirit forbade him to 
look at anything red or at a gun. I got over the first 
scruple by changing the blanket for a blue one. But as 
he was at war with two neighbouring chiefs, the latter 
prohibition must have been a trifle awkward. 

We had little difficulty with the new 
porters ; of course they wanted to be 
paid in advance, but they were quite 
good-humoured when the demand was 
refused. I noticed that they carried a 
great deal of fish to eat on the journey, 
which they roasted on sticks over a 
fire. When we came to a village where 
their wives were living, they insisted 
on taking them some fish also. We 
marched on without any incident for three days, being 




AT MASHUMPA ; 



November I struck the Zambezi for the second time. 

The point reached was Matakania's village. The river 
there was very broad and at that season very low ; more 
than half of it was dry. We had to wait for nearly 
half an hour outside the village in a blazing sun, until 
at last a young man in semi-European 
costume came out to meet us. He 
was one of Matakania's sons, and was 
actually able to read. I therefore pro- 
duced for his benefit my letter from 
the Portuguese Government. With great 
difficulty he gave me to understand 
that his father was away, but asked us 
inside the village and gave me a hut 
furnished solely with white ants. I could 
get nothing to eat, either for my men or myself, so that 
I left early next morning for Zumbo. The Portuguese 
Commandant, Senhor Joaquin Antonio Marques, kindly 
sent a boat to meet me and received me very cordially. 

221 




MASHUMl'A S. 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

Unfortunately he was only able to understand a very 
few words of French, and I even less of Portuguese. 
I discovered, however, that there was a Mission Station 
eight miles off at Ricico, where there were two German 
missionaries. I therefore wrote to ask if I might visit 
them. They kindly sent me an invita,tion, and I went 
by boat the same night. I found one Hungarian brother 
and one Swiss lay brother, who could speak both French 
and German ; he very kindly suggested that he should 
return to interpret. This he did the same evening, and 




LEAVING MATAKANIA'S. 

next day I was able to buy from the Commandant 
sufficient cloth to pay all my men. This was a very 
great favour on his part, as war had broken out some 
months before below Tete, and all supplies were stopped. 
He also undertook to let me have a large Government 
boat to take me as far towards Tete as Kashumba. After 
spending ten days at Zumbo, I returned to my men 
at Matakania's. They had killed two hippopotami in 
my absence. On my arrival the chief apologized for his 
son's churlish behaviour, and gave me fresh quarters. On 
the 22nd November I paid off all the men, and next day 
started on my way to Tete. The Commandant, with his 



FROM SALISBURY TO TETE 

invariable courtesy, sent me the boat he had promised, 
and Matakania gave orders that one of his houses should 
be placed at my disposal at Tete. 

The station of Zumbo consists of four houses built of 
stone and covered with tiles, the only inhabitants being 
the Commandant, a Portuguese trader, and Matakania, 
the chief of the Panyami river. The latter deserves a 
few words of description. He was (he died some time 



""^^mmm 



it! « M. *V. 



m.. 



MATAKANIA S BAND. 



ago) the richest and most powerful of the Capitao Mores 
of the Zambezi. He possessed an army of over 6000 
men, armed with breach-loaders given to him by the 
Portuguese Government. With this force he used to raid 
all the Senga country, over which he ruled absolutely. 
He had in this way amassed a considerable number of 
slaves, and possessed a store full of ivory ; when I visited 
this store I found there more than thirty tons of it. 
His strength was such that the Portuguese dared not 
interfere with him. He was honorary colonel of the 
Portuguese army, and on great occasions used to attire 
223 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

himself in a magnificent uniform, over which he wore 
the Order of Christ, of which he was knight commander. 
Matakania was merely his nickname. He called himself 
Jose d'Araujo Lobo ; but although he called himself a 
Portuguese, he was of the purest black, and the greatest 
villain that ever lived. 

From Zumbo to Kashumba the Zambezi is very broad, 
but most shallow, and could only be navigated by small 
steam launches. On the 28th November we reached 
Kashumba. The only man in the place who could speak 
Portuguese was the garrison : I say the garrison, as it 
consisted of one man all told — a black corporal. He 
explained to me that he could not give me porters with- 
out sending to his superior, Senhor Curado de Campos, 
who lived thirty miles lower down the river. I then asked 
him whether the boat could go so far down, and he said 
that this was impossible, on account of the rapids. I 
decided therefore to go myself and see Senhor Curado, 
and told the corporal to get me twelve men by two o'clock 
to take me there in a machilla or hammock — the mode of 
travelling in Portuguese territory. He promised to do 
so ; but at four, no one having put in an appearance, 
I went to look for him. I found him very busy watching 
the natives fish for frogs. Asked for the men, he replied 
that they would come the next morning. On that I 
decided to take matters into my own hands, beat up the 
men in the village, and started at five with a dozen of 
them. I halted for the night, after an hour and a half's 
march, and stopped at a small riverside village, where a 
hut was given me. It was very small, and the door had 
to be closed because lions were in the habit of stealing 
in at night ; consequently the heat was awful, and I could 
not sleep. The next day again was broiling hot ; but 
all the same I got to Inhamecuta, where I found Senhor 
Curado de Campos, a real Portuguese — white in skin, but 
black at heart. He received me with joy and a torrent of 
broken French. 

224 



FROM SALISBURY TO TETE 

"Ah, mon cher Monsieur," he cried, "que je suis con- 
tente de vous voir ! Une francez, une amigo ; Senhor, 
tout ici est votre, vous etes chez-vous ; ce n'est pas comme 
ces sals english. Si un english vient ici il paye pour tout, 
mais vous c'est une plaisir, une honneur de vous recfivoir ; 
et ne me parlez pas de payer, vous me feriez injure." 




VILLAGE OF INHAMECUTA. 



"Look here," he added, "this for the English, 
he produced a board with the following : 

Tabella of Prizes. 
For the eating and sleping one day 
For drink bottle red wine 
For the eating one brekfest 
For the eating of the diner 
For drink one tas of thea 
For take you in machilla at Tete 
For a carier take charge 50 pounds to Tete 
For the drink one Utre brandy 
For one panch mapira 



So saying. 



3 or 5 shiUng 
5 shihng 
8 shihng 

1 2 shihng 
5 shihng 
2 



Reis 



5000 
4000 



For bae a piece of algodao 
For bae a piece leso 

Note. — 4500 Portuguese reis = one pound sterUng, 
Q 225 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

I explained that I only intended making a stay of a 
few days, being anxious to catch the Governor at Tete, 
for whom I had official letters. 

" But, my dear sir, my friend the Governor will be here 
in a few days, and you had better remain here until he 
comes," 

I told him that I did not wish to overtax his hospitality; 
but he insisted, and I remained. As for the matter of 
transport, he told me that the boat could perfectly well 
have come down as far as that ; but excused the corporal 
for not finding men, as he could not have got them 
without applying to him. He promised, however, to get 
some next day, and promised to send for my luggage. 
This he did so promptly that they were off before I knew 
of it next morning, and I had to send a special messenger 
with a note and instructions for my men. This was on 
the I St December : they arrived on the 4th. I waited 
to see the Governor, who was expected daily. I spent 
four days tolerably uncomfortably with dysentery until 
he arrived on the 9th. I then went back with him the 
thirty miles to Kashumba, whither he had to go to instal 
a new military commander, and did not leave Inhamecuta 
until the 19th. The only interesting incident of these 
days concerned a woman and a crocodile. The woman 
was seized by the crocodile, but clutched hold of its 
jaws and opened its mouth to free herself The crocodile 
caught her again, but a second time she wrenched its 
mouth open, and actually managed to get away. 

As we left Inhamecuta I took my dear friend Curado 
de Campos aside, and asked what I owed for some calico 
I had bought from him. 

He told me the amount, and added : " Well, my dear 
sir, there is also a small charge for board and lodging. 
You see if you had only stopped here for three or four 
days I should have been happy to entertain you, but as 
you stopped over twelve days you see I am compelled 
to make a charge." 

226 



FROM SALISBURY TO TETE 

" All right," said I ; " how much is it ? " 

" Well, deuss livres." 

I understood two pounds, and put it down. 

" No, no, my dear sir — dix livres," and he wrote it 
down. 

I fairly jumped, and looked at him. 

"Well," said he, "you can see yourself the tabella of 
prizes." 

I did not want to discuss, and I merely said, " All right ; 
I will write a draft." 

" Certainly not ; I want money." 

" But I have none. I may remind you that a few days 
ago I mentioned the fact, and you offered to cash me a 
draft for any amount" 

" Well," said the Senhor, growing excited, " I call this 
disgraceful, to eat a man's food, and to have no money 
to pay." 

" Well, if you don't want to take my draft, I will pay 
your agent at Tete." 

" No, I want the money at once, or else I shall have the 
law of you." 

" Very well — do so : as you can only bring a case at 
Tete, you won't be paid sooner ; and even so, I may then 
choose to dispute the claim." 

Thereupon the Governor came. I explained my case, 
and he said that he would hold himself responsible for 
the amount, and asked Curado to make out the account. 
This was calculated in Portuguese currency at 4500 reis ; 
Curado began to object, but I produced his own tabella 
of prizes, and left him cursing me and the Governor and 
the dishonesty of an ungrateful world in general. 

From Inhamecuta we started on an unexciting and 
sufficiently miserable march. The magnates, among whom 
I was kindly included, were carried, Portuguese fashion, in 
a machilla or hammock slung to a pole. The Governor 
kindly offered to make a detour in order to show me the 
celebrated gorge of Kebra Baca, where the Zambezi flows 
227 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

through a channel about 150 feet broad. The sight is most 
imposing : the river rushes wildly between two banks of 
basaltic rocks of the purest black and polished like steel. 
Until we reached Tete it rained for at least an hour 
every day, and generally more ; as a rule we were soaked 
through at night. The country was hilly, varied by 
swamps, and the number of times we had to cross rivers 
that happened to be in the way was heartbreaking. 




Gorge of Kebra Baca. 

One day especially rain came down in such" torrents that 
the footpath soon became a rushing river, with a bed of 
several inches of peculiarly sticky mud. I stopped most 
conscientiously by the way to take observations, and of 
course fell much behind the party in doing so. Things 
were bad enough until we reached a small valley, where 
the water was running in a great number of small but 
deep sluits at the rate of a good five miles an hour. 
The first two I crossed on the shoulders of a man, but 
in the third my bearer slipped, and we both rolled into 
the water. Being quite soaked through I took no further 
228 



FROM SALISBURY TO TETE 

trouble about myself, and waded through all the other 
sluits till I overtook the Governor and his suite at a 
regular small torrent. All had crossed except the doctor. 
He was not a man of great stature, and as those who had 
got over had had to wade waist-deep, he was not certain 
how he should proceed. After much painful hesitation he 
got astride of the bamboo from which his machilla was 
slung — in which position he reminded me of a monkey on 
a stick — and was ferried across safely though without 
much dignity. I did the same. About eight hours after 




THE GOVERNOR'S CARAVAN. 

our start we reached a series of small villages, at one of 
which we stopped. I found the Governor and most of his 
companions gathered in a hut, looking like drowned rats. 
To add to the general misery the porters had not arrived, 
and we had no change of clothes. So we all stripped to 
the costume of our first father, and huddled ourselves up 
in the hut round a smoky fire. It continued to rain 
abominably all day, and we could not dry our clothes, 
so we remained in the simple costume I have described 
until night. It was not the happiest position that can 
be imagined for preserving the dignity of a Governor. 
The next day, however, things were not so bad ; we 
229 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

made a good march, and the following day, Christmas 
Eve, arrived at Tete. 

The town is very much larger than I had pictured it, 
and contained a white population of some thirty. We 
proceeded to Government House, where all the officers 
and civilians were assembled to greet His Excellency. 
The soldiers were in full uniform and the civilians in frock 
coats, with patent leather boots — a most charming and 
refreshing sight in the wilds of Africa. The Governor 
kindly invited me to stay at his house. There was no 
special rejoicing on Christmas Day, except a breakfast 
party and a midnight mass. There was a kind of club, 
with a billiard table and a library, in which I spent the 
evening. 

I stayed at Tete for over a month, receiving every sort 
of kindness from everybody I met ; and studied, so far as 
I was able, the Portuguese administration of the colony. 
A new Governor was expected. to relieve my host, and I 
hoped to be able to take the opportunity of his arrival to 
get a gunboat to enable me to continue my journey, as 
the natives being at war on the lower part of the river, 
all traffic was stopped. I noticed that the northern side 
of the Zambezi is much better watered than the southern, 
on which Tete stands ; it rains there twice as much. 
The reason I conjectured to be that the other side is 
very hilly and contains much iron, which attracts the 
storms. Tete itself is desperately barren ; there are 
no trees — indeed no vegetation of any kind; nothing 
but stones. In former times Tete was an island, and 
the stream used to run south and west of the town, 
through what is now a most fertile valley, where the 
river only penetrates when it is very high. There seems 
no doubt that the Zambezi has very much decreased in 
volume. For instance, old people at Inhamecuta told me 
that in former times no sand was ever seen there, whereas 
now there is a large beach of it. This testimony is 
confirmed by Livingstone's accounts and his description of 
230 



FROM SALISBURY TO TETE 




the Victoria Falls. From what I saw there must be far 
less water in them now than there was in his time.* 

During my journey to and stay at Tete I did my best 
to acquaint myself with the ways of the surrounding 
natives. The principal native races of the Portuguese 
Zambezi are the Senga, who 
live north-west of Zumbo. The 
women of this tribe insert 
enormous pieces of metal in 
the upper and lower lips, 
which give them a most repul- 
sive appearance. The Chinyai 
live between Tete and In- 
hamecuta ; the Tuwala round 
Chikoa ; and the Goa, a very 
superior type, to the north of 
these. Perhaps the most re- 
markable feature of these tribes 
is the large families they pro- 
duce. Among other African 
natives it is rare to find a 
mother of more than three or 
four children, but here a woman 
often has as many as ten. They 
do not kill twins, as almost all 
other natives do. Women suckle 
their children until they are three 
years old — sometimes several 
children at once. The country, 

however, being low for the most part, and swampy, is 
exceedingly unhealthy. Without the large families which 
one finds here there can be little doubt that the natives 



Vi 



SENGA WOMAN. 



* Sir Harry Johnston has noted the same phenomenon in connection with 
the river Shire. In August, 1889, he ascended that river to Katunga, in the 
James Stevenson, which draws 3ft. 6in. Two years later gunboats drawing a 
foot less found this task impossible in June, when the river is normally higher 
than in August. 

231 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 



would have died out long ago. The mortality among 
children is enormous, and you do not often meet a native 
over fifty years old. Dysentery is very common, especially 
just before the rams. There is much malaria, fever, small- 
pox, and a kind, of leprosy, while the people also suffer 
much from ulcers on the leg. 

The most elaborate and interesting of the customs of 
these people, as of other Afri- 
cans, relate to marriage and 
death. When a man wishes 
to marry, the principal mem- 
bers of his family go to ask 
the girl of her parents. They 
take with them a ring of 
beads for the bride, and some 
beads for her father. Next 
day they return to the wooer 
either with another ring, which 
signifies acceptance, or else 
bringing back the ring sent 
by him in sign of refusal. If 
the answer is favourable the 
suitor goes to the girl's home 







of beads, which he gives to 
the mother. After that he 
goes home again, but returns 
GOA MAN. ' once more, and gives the 

mother five strings of beads, 
repeating at the same time a formula which literally means 
"parched by the wind"; that is to say, cold — the im- 
plication being that he wishes to take away his wife to 
keep him warm. For the wedding the girl is clothed 
and ornamented in the presence of all their friends. 
These clap their hands during, the ceremony, and after- 
wards accompany the couple to their hut, where they 
drink beer and dance all night. After that there comes 



FROM SALISBURY TO TETE 



Each of the first has 
are simply bought, and 




the usual round of presents. The day after the marriage 

the husband gives the mother two pieces of calico, which 

is called " the price of the virgin." The day after that 

he goes back again and gives her another piece with the 

words, " My wife cannot leave me." Polygamy is the rule 

among these people, and they have two classes of wives 

— wives proper and concubines. 

a hut of her own. The others 

are practically slaves. They all 

occupy a hut together. A man 

can always dismiss his wife; and 

if he dies the lawful wives go 

back to their parents, and are 

free to marry again. The others 

form part of the deceased's 

estate. 

When a man dies everybody 
howls very mournfully ; then 
they wash the body, clothe it, 
decorate it with beads, and wrap 
it up in a piece of calico soaked 
in saffron. Thus it is left two 
days until it begins to decom- 
pose. A hole is then dug in 
the hut, four or five feet deep. 
The body is wrapped in a kind 

of bag of rushes with three layers, put into the ground, 
and covered first with thorns and then with earth. The 
hut is then abandoned. If the dead man be a chief 
the whole village is deserted also. On the grave, above 
the head, is placed a large urn of earthenware con- 
taining a little flour, while a roast chicken is placed 
by the side of it. Having thus left the dead man with 
every comfort, the natives clap their hands by way of 
adieu, and shut up the hut, as I have said. Every one 
who has touched the body then washes in the river, 
while the family cut their hair and deposit it at a 
^}>3 



% 



.r 



\'h! 



GOA WOMAN. 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

place where two roads meet. They decorate themselves 
with black beads as a sign of mourning, and if they can 
afford it dress in black clothes. The death of a person 
of importance is never considered natural, but everybody 
among his surroundings has to go through the poison 
ordeal. It is only in the case of such a man that the full 
ceremonies I have described are gone through, and that 
the body is buried inside a hut. Common people and 
slaves are thrown into the river, or deposited in holes 
among the rocks. 

Three months after a death the friends assemble for a 
great feast. Preparing large quantities of native beer, 
they go to the hut where the tomb is. Digging a large 
hole outside it they set down a pot of beer, cover it with 
a plate, and drop on the plate a little flour. They then 
enter the hut, taking with them a sheep. They remove 
the urn which was placed above the head of the body, 
dig a little hole, and pour in beer ; they then kill the 
sheep, and let the blood also drop into the hole. Then 
they take out the sheep, shut the door, and feast on the 
meat, after which they wash their hands in the pot of beer 
which they have left outside. When the feast is over they 
leave the house with a very curious ceremony. One of 
the wives of the dead man is carried away on a man's 
shoulders, and the whole company follow her, clapping 
their hands. This woman they call " musimo," or the 
spirit. She has her head covered with a piece of stuff, 
and as the procession goes on they call for beer for the 
spirit, and take it to her. She drinks it under the veil. 
All proceed thus to the hut of the most important widow, 
where a hole has been dug and cemented inside. Into 
this they pour the inevitable beer, and all lie down on 
their bellies to drink of it. A great feast follows with 
dancing and music, and then the dead man is done with. 
The heir enters into possession of his property, and the 
mourners resume their ordinary attire. 

Witchcraft, and especially exorcism, are highly de- 
234 



FROM SALISBURY TO TETE 

veloped. Another very curious ceremony is gone through 
in case a dead man's heir should fall ill. It is called 
"arungo." The sick man sits on the ground, and a 
female doctor passes her hands over his leg and pre- 
tends to throw that which she takes from it into a 
basket placed at her side. This is the " musimo," or 
spirit of the dead man, which has been withdrawn from 
the heir's body. The whole family assembles and goes 
through the same pantomime. They then take a piece 
of stuff and wrap it tightly over the basket to prevent 
the spirit from getting out. The next day the doctor 
comes back and says to the basket, which has been left 
in the hut of the invalid, " You are quite well, are you 
not, and have slept well ? " The spirit replies with a 
whistle, which the medicine lady translates thus : " Yes, 
I have died once, and I am very well." " Are you 
comfortable in this basket ? " the doctor then asks. 
" Will you stay there ? " Another whistle. " Yes, yes ! " 
answers the spirit, " I am comfortable, and I wish to stay 
here." After that follows a process called " marombo," 
which is pursued in all cases of illness alike. The 
doctor dances, and, during the dance, places a piece 
of stuff over the head of the patient and a gourd 
on the top of that. In this uncomfortable posture 
the patient is expected to wag his head from side 
to side while the dance continues. Presently he also 
gets up and dances himself, a sign that the evil 
spirit within him wishes to leave. Upon this the doctor 
pretends to faint, breaking off short in the middle of 
the dance and clutching at his heart — or more generally 
hers, for most doctors are women. When she comes to 
she kills a kid and mixes its blood with beer, and 
the sick man drinks it. Thus the evil spirit is satis- 
factorily driven out. The next day the man is well 
— or ought to be. 

These illustrations will give a sufficiently clear idea 
of the chief religious beliefs of these tribes, if religion 
235 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

it may be called. Among them, as among most Africans, 
the " musimo," or spirits of the dead, are the one imma- 
terial idea which the native mind can grasp. Even this, 
however, is only very crudely spiritual, as the fact of 
offering a disembodied soul beer shows plainly enough. 
They also attribute other evils besides disease to the 
spirits of the dead. With this belief in ghosts they 
combine curiously enough the doctrine of metempsy- 
chosis, as do many other tribes. The spirits of the 
dead are believed to pass into other animals — men of 
rank become hya;nas-^but never into men. 

Except that a man of these tribes will divide any- 
thing that is given him among all his companions, they 
have no idea of morality. I could tell many stories of 
all kinds of unnatural and barbarous abominations 
among them, and especially among the black Portu- 
guese, but I do not think there would be any useful 
purpose served by their recital. 

Industrially, however, these people take a comparatively 
high rank among negroes. Of course witchcraft enters 
largely into all their operations. When a man intends 
to build a house, the inevitable sorcerer is called in. 
He brings with him some flour and makes a little 
heap of it on the ground. If next morning this heap is 
undisturbed the site is a good one. If the rats have 
eaten it or it has been scattered in any other way, it 
would be madness to build in so unpropitious a spot. The 
huts are always round, built of wood, and covered with 
mud. Poor families live together ; the rich have, as I said 
above, a hut for each wife. There are no windows, and the 
smoke of the fire escapes through any interstices it can 
find. Each hut is surrounded by a fence of reeds, making 
a little court four or five yards in extent. One of these 
joins on to another, and as they are all square it is 
very difficult, despite the number of little paths, about 
a yard wide, to find your way to any particular hut in 
a village. The whole village is surrounded by a similar 
236 



FROM SALISBURY TO TETE 

fence of rushes with several gates. All refuse is carried 
outside. In each village there are a certain number of 
enclosures roofed in, containing grindstones for making 
flour ; the women perform this work all in a body. 
They both spin and weave the native cotton, and know 
two vegetable dyes, one yellow, the other black, obtained 
by soaking the bark of certain trees in hot water. They 
make very strong string, both of cotton and of bark 





AXES FROM THE LOWER ZAMBEZI. 



fibre. They also make considerable use of leather, 
especially for bags, and are not unhandy at pottery 
work. Their canoes are dug out of the trunk of a 
tree, but are very much larger than those of the 
Barotse. They are propelled either by paddles, with a 
very large crew sitting the whole length of the canoe, 
and the captain steering with a long oar astern, or 
else in shallow water with a punt pole. I have seen 
as many as twenty-five people in one canoe. Their 
principal food is flour made of mealies called mapira, 
besides which they grow beans and maize. They take 
237 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

only one regular meal a day — ^just before sunset. A 
man's ration is two handfuls of flour. The men eat 
first and then the women. The cooking is generally 
done by the men. They also work in iron with great 
skill, as may be seen by the shape of their axes shown 
on page 237. 

The new Governor arrived at Tete on New Year's Day, 
with two gunboats. He was a naval officer, and a most 
distinguished looking man. He told me he would place a 
gunboat at my disposal to take me as far as the Anglo- 
Portuguese frontier at Chiromo, at the junction of the 
Ruo and the Shire rivers, whither he was himself going. 
After a few days' longer stay in Tete I finally left on 
board the gunboat Cuama on the 30th of January, 1893. 



238 



CHAPTER XL 
THE PORTUGUESE ON THE ZAMBEZI 

THE earliest pioneers of the Portuguese Empire 
appeared in the neighbourhood of the Zambezi 
about the middle of the sixteenth century. One of the 
first was a priest, Joncalo da Silveira, who in 1560 pene- 
trated into the middle of the kingdom of Monomapata, 
and was there put to death. 
About the same time one ^^-;:^^^^^''^ 

Francisco Baretto ascended the 
Zambezi as far as Senna, where 
he established himself. Thence 

he continued to press up the '" ^ 

river, and came into contact ^^\ 
with the tribes adjacent to the -^ 
Gorge of Lupata. He estab- 
lished a fort at Tete. He died *i'-— ^ 
at Senna while returning from 
a journey to Mozambique. His / 
aide-de-camp, Vasco Fernandez ' 
Homena, succeeded him. He type at tete. 
visited the gold mines of Man- 

ica, and returning to Tete, travelled to the silver mines 
of Chikoa, where he left his second in command. This 
officer, with 200 men, was cut to pieces by the natives 
about 1572. All these officers were under the command 
of the Viceroy of Portuguese India. In 1608 another 
Portuguese officer again visited the silver mines of Chi- 
koa, and left in the interior one Diego Madeira, who 
239 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

during- the next six years explored the surrounding 
country. By slow degrees the Portuguese thus founded 
two empires, one north of the Zambezi, and the other 
in the district of Monomatapa. From the very begin- 
nings of the Portuguese Empire, Manica was celebrated 
for its gold. The Portuguese established a number of 
fairs or markets all over the country, where the natives 
brought gold and slaves, which were exchanged for 
European goods. Starting from Tete, a long line of 
markets and forts is said to have extended by Fort 
San Miguel and Montedoro as far as Tati on the Shashi 
river. I should rather doubt, however, if this is true. 
By 1700 missionaries had spread themselves over the 
Lower Zambezi district, and in 1763 the market of Zumbo 
was constituted a town. As well as gold and copper, 
which came from mines between Manica and Montedoro, 
the Portuguese took away ivory from this country from 
the first years of their occupation. 

It will thus be seen that the Portuguese rule on the 
Zambezi is more than three centuries old, and this fact 
should be taken into consideration in judging the system 
which is found there. In one way, no doubt, this length 
of occupation should have enabled them to do much 
with the country. On the other hand, it brings con- 
siderable difficulties. The organization of the country 
is rather mediaeval than modern, and it is no doubt 
more difficult to reform long existing abuses than to 
establish a satisfactory system of government where no 
government previously existed at all. 

The supreme authority of the Portuguese Colonies is 
in the hands of the Minister of Marine and Colonies 
at Lisbon. He is assisted by a civilian Director- 
General and a Council. There is the Governor-General 
of Mozambique, and the country is divided into sub- 
ordinate Governorships. These districts are Angoche, 
Cape Delgado, Inhambane, Lorenzo Marques, Tete, and 
Quilimane. Besides these, the Mozambique Company has 
240 



THE PORTUGUESE ON THE ZAMBEZI 

the administration of a large territory. The functions of 
the Governors of Districts are principally four. The 
Governor holds the military command, is President of the 
Board which supervises taxation, Civil Administrator, and 
a sort of Judge of Instruction for criminal cases ; these 
are first heard before the local tribunal by the Governor, 
who prepares documents dealing with the case, and sends 
them to Mozambique for trial. Appeals go to the 
Governor of Goa in India. That at least is the theory ; 
but as a matter of fact, the Governor often sends people 
to prison without any trial at all, and keeps them there 
indefinitely. For instance, some months before I was 
in the Portuguese territory some natives had come down 
from the Shire country to see what trade could be done 
in Tete, bringing a document given them by the British 
authorities of Nyasaland. This document merely stated 

that " chief of ■ " was in the English 

sphere of influence ; that he paid his taxes regularly, 
and that any one attempting to seize his country would 
be proceeded against according to law. No doubt the 
men had brought this document as a kind of passport ; 
but when they were taken before the Governor and 
produced it, that gentleman chose to believe that the 
English had sent them with this paper to annoy the 
Portuguese authorities. He therefore had them beaten, 
and sent them to prison, where they were still when I 
arrived in Tete. In vain I tried to obtain their release, 
offering even a substantial security. 

The most striking piece of mediaevalism in the Portu- 
guese administration is the prazzo system. A prazzo is 
a district constituted for purposes of revenue. Each one 
is put up to auction. The highest bidder has to pay 
the amount of his bid annually, and in return is allowed 
to collect a revenue from the district. The system is 
regulated by a law of 1886, as follows: — 

" The prazzos are put up for auction for three years 
but the Government has power to rescind the contract by 
R 241 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

giving six months' notice. The lessee of each prazzo has 
to pay for six months in advance. He has a right to 
levy a tax or mussock of 800 reis per head in cash, or if 
he prefers it, to make the native work for him, such work 
reckoned at 400 reis per week ; 800 reis is about 3s. 6d. 
Children below sixteen are not liable to this tax, nor 
are natives who are physica,lly incapable of work ; but all 
others, men and women alike, are liable. For the main- 
tenance of roads, public works, and the building of houses 
for officials, the lessee can requisition native labour 
without payment. He can also requisition labour for 
his own purposes at the rate of 400 reis per week, or 
its equivalent in goods at market price. Children under 
sixteen can be made to work at half this price. Natives 
who refuse to pay are sent to hard labour on public works 
until they have made up their mind to pay the tax. The 
lessee is not allowed to illtreat his people ; he must send 
them before the authorities if they are not amenable, and 
allow them to go before the officer of the nearest station 
if they have any complaint to make. The lessee is 
allowed to cultivate land not already occupied, but he 
may not export timber or minerals without a special 
concession." In 1890 this law was modified by the 
creation of two kinds of prazzos. The first class consists 
of those which are so situated as to be exposed to native 
attack, or from any other cause are not suited to either 
agricultural or industrial development. The second class 
— those which are so fitted — are to be put up to auction for 
twenty-five years. The upstart price is 800 reis per head 
of the population. At least half the tax is to be paid 
by the natives in labour, but the lessee must supply to 
them, free of charge, water, fire, and grass to thatch 
their huts. Every five years a census is to be made, 
and if the population of the district has increased, the 
price to be paid by the lessee is to be increased in pro- 
portion. In five years the lessee is to have at least one- 
third of his land under cultivation, and the whole by the 
242 



i 



THE PORTUGUESE ON THE ZAMBEZI 

end of the twenty-five years. The lessee possesses a 
certain official status analogous to that of a sheriff. He 
also has power to arm, at his own expense, a certain 
number of sepoys, the maximum to be fixed in the 
lease. He must lend these to Government for the defence 
of the country if they are requisitioned. This new enact- 
ment does not seem particularly sagacious, for the lessee 
would hardly be likely to work hard for twenty-five years 
(supposing he lived so long) in the country to get no profit 
for it at the end. 

Now the system of prazzos was no doubt quite right 
and satisfactory when it was first instituted in the seven- 
teenth century, but to-day the working of the system 
comes to very little more than legalized slavery, and an 
uncontrolled opportunity for the lessee to grind money 
out of the natives. He makes the people pay their tax 
either in goods or in work. The value of the work is 
measured by European goods. The usual price is 4000 
reis, or 17s. 6d., for twenty yards of cotton cloth, which 
he buys at Tete for 800 reis, about 3s. 6d. 

The natives pay their tax in their own produce ; the 
lessee fixes the value of such produce, and also measures 
it with his own measure, so that 27 litres nominal is often 
really 40 or 45 to the lessee. The sepoys are not 
supposed to be liable to the tax, but they have to be 
ready for any kind of work. One lessee, for instance, 
whom I came across, makes you pay los. per man for 
porters for a five days' march. He pays these men 
IS. lod. worth of calico, gives them sixpenny worth of 
food for the journey, and makes them bring back his 
goods on their return. He thus makes a profit of 7s. 8d. 
per man, and avows openly that you will not be able 
to get a single porter without coming to him. Thus on 
an expedition requiring 60 porters he makes about £2^. 
It is difficult to see what good bloodsuckers of this kind 
can possibly do to any country. 

They have only one object — to get money, and to get 
243 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

ivory especially, by every possible means. What is the 
use of cultivating the land when one can send natives 
to hunt ivory ? Observe that I say to hunt ivory, not to 
hunt elephants. It is very seldom that the man who 
kills an animal gets the profit of the ivory ; it is probably 
stolen half a dozen times before it comes finally into the 
hands of the white men. The lessees employ a large 
number of hunters, and make heavy profits out of them. 

For instance, they advance them a certain number 
of guns, put down at say £'] apiece, a keg or two of 
powder, caps, and a few trading goods, all reckoned at 
the same exorbitant price. When the hunters return after 
an expedition of five or six months the masters pay, it 
is true, for the ivory very nearly at the price it fetches in 
Tete, but then they pay in goods, on which, according 
to their valuation of them, they make four or five hundred 
per cent, profit An arroba (15 kilogrammes of ivory) 
never costs them more than £6,, and they sell it for 
about ;^20 at Tete. Evidently it does not need many 
arrobas a month to bring in a comfortable income. After 
the lessee has bought the hunter's ivory in this way, he 
will make him another advance of guns, powder, and 
the like, so that in a few years the unfortunate man 
will find himself some hundreds of pounds in debt, while 
the ivory merchant has already made ;^iooo profit out 
of him. It must also be remembered that some of the 
hunters in the employment of these gentlemen possess 
as many as fifty or sixty guns. It may well be imagined 
what very extensive and various kinds of hunting they are 
able to pursue with such resources. 

Why indeed cultivate the soil when you can get ivory .-' 
It is a sight to see these traffickers gloating over their 
ivory — the arrival of a consignment is a feast-day. It is 
a cruel thought that every tusk has cost the life of one 
man at the very least. Ivory in Portuguese Africa is the 
synonym for slavery, theft, and murder. For instance, one 
day the lessee of a prazzo said to me, quite as a matter of 
244 



THE PORTUGUESE ON THE ZAMBEZI 

course, " I am expecting a great deal of ivory from such 
and such a place," and he named the kraal of a native 
chief; "only I do not know when it will come, because 
the chief will have to make war to get it ; but he told 
me that he was going to war, as he knew that I should 
give him a good price just now." The truth is that the 
ivory trade will never be anything but a scandal until 



"^■:.. 




THE ARRIVAL OF AN IVORY CARAVAN. 



every one who deals in it is obliged to take out a licence, 
pay a heavy fee, and be subject to a rigid supervision. 

Another extraordinary institution of Portuguese Africa 
is the Capitao Mor. These gentlemen are a kind of 
militia officers, usually with the honorary rank of 
Lieutenant - Colonel in the Portuguese army. They 
are blacks. They raise their irregulars themselves, and 
Government supplies them with thousands of guns to arm 
them. In no part of Africa have I seen such a profusion 
of guns, most of them lent by Government, which will 
never see them again. So many guns and so much 
245 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

ammunition have these people received that a revolt 
of one or two of them to-day would be a very grave 
affair. Most of these Capitao Mores employ their troops 
and arms for slave-raiding and general brigandage, and 
are guilty every day of frightful atrocities. One of these 
gentlemen, who was in the habit of levying blackmail in 
ivory and gold dust, and of borrowing people's wives from 
them by force, was the sole cause of a native war a few 
years ago. Another one had the misfortune to lose his 
brother, whereon he attributed his death to sorcery. He 
made everybody who could possibly have come in contact 
with him go through the ordeal of taking muavi, or 
poison. Those who did not vomit were considered guilty 
of witchcraft and promptly put to death ; some were 
shot on the spot, others hanged, and others thrown into 
the Zambezi with a stone round their necks. In one way 
or another fifty were disposed of Even then all who had 
vomited were put in chains. 

The total store of ivory possessed by this enterprising 
official is valued at ;^20,ooo, at least three quarters of 
which was stolen. Another Capitao Mor is in the habit 
of amusing himself by mutilating his people, which he 
does as punishment for the smallest fault. The country 
belonging to this gentleman, named Kanyemba, is now in 
British territory. Particular note of this should be taken. 

I was present at an amusing suit brought by one of 
these fellows before the Governor. He accused one of his 
sepoys of stealing four women and a cash -box, and 
blandly requested the Governor to send him to prison 
out of hand. The Governor answered that he could not 
condemn a man in this manner ; he must have witnesses 
to prove his guilt. " Oh," said the Capitao Mor, " I have 
plenty; here are four men who will prove the affair." The 
Governor called them up, and to the great disgust of the 
official, interrogated them one by one. The first said 
that the accused had stolen three women, and the Capitao 
Mor had told him that he had also stolen some things, 
246 



THE PORTUGUESE ON THE ZAMBEZI 

but witness did not know what. The second witness said 
the man had made off with four women, and had also 
stolen a box. " What was in it ? " asked the Governor. 
Here the Capitao Mor interrupted, but the Governor told 
him to be quiet. It appeared that witness did not know 
what was in the box, and did not know where the box 
was before it was stolen. The third witness did not know 
quite so much as the others. The Capitao Mor again 
interrupted, and the Governor began to lose patience. 
The fourth witness knew even less than any of the others. 
" He is a fool," cried the accuser, and then he ingeniously 
suggested that the witnesses should undergo the ordeal 
by poison to see if they spoke the truth. When the 
accused was questioned he declared that he had stolen 
nothing, but had made off because the Capitao Mor 
wanted to kill him. " What nonsense," shouted that 
gentleman ; and when the Governor refused to condemn 
the man at once, he gave up the idea of the poison ordeal, 
and said he would apply to the tribunal at Tete instead. 
What he really did was to make off into the country, not 
liking the presence of the military commander in his 
district. Later on one of his headmen told me that 
one day this gentleman had picked up a knife and 
stabbed one of his people, afterwards ordering this head- 
man to follow him up and finish him. 

Another kind of legalized slavery which exists on a 
great scale here shrouds itself under the cloak of religion. 
Nowhere is slave dealing carried on so openly and 
shamefully as it is by the Jesuits. They are perpetually 
buying young slaves for a couple of pieces of cotton " to 
save them from slavery." This seems to me a very 
curious way of discouraging the slave trade. They teach 
the children under their care a little religious history and 
a few elementary principles of education ; but their chief 
care is to put them to a trade, making them masons, 
carpenters, and the like. During the holidays, as they 
are ironically called, the children are made to work in 
247 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

the fields. All this would be a very good work if it 
were disinterested. The fact is that when the children 
are grown up the Jesuits claim to keep them for their own 
purposes. For example, one of their carpenters went 
away to work on his own account. The Jesuits had him 
seized by the authorities and forced to work for them. 
While I was in the neighbourhood a child left their 
seminary for a week. On his arrival at his home he com- 
plained of having been illtreated, and his state of health 
confirmed what he said. His brother, although a black, 
had been educated in Lisbon and happened to be a man 
of some education — a notary ; and he decided not to send 
him back to the Mission, but to keep him at home and 
send him to school at Tete. Immediately the authorities 
were bombarded with letters asking them to compel the 
child to return to the Mission. The Jesuits observed 
that constraint was indispensable in such cases ; that it 
was deplorable to give in to the caprices of the blacks, 
and that in the interests of civilization it ought not to be 
done. It is not necessary to comment on this except to 
ask in what respect it differs from slavery. A slave 
among the natives is generally well treated by his master, 
and it is remarkable that children carried off from their 
own tribe usually become so closely assimilated with their 
new tribe that in war they are the fiercest enemies of 
their own people. I do not mean to hold up this state 
of things as an admirable one ; but, at any rate, the 
disposition of these slaves is in very striking contrast to 
that of the pupils of the Jesuits, whose one hope is to 
escape. The Protestant missions may have their faults, 
and plenty of them ; but, at least, when they teach the 
natives a trade they also put them in a position to profit 
by it. The Jesuit fathers, on the other hand, seem to think 
that they have returned to the good old Middle Ages 
with their serfs and vassals. On the religious side they are 
transported with horror to think of the superstition of the 
barbarous negroes, their ancestor-worship, and their belief 
248 



THE PORTUGUESE ON THE ZAMBEZI 

in evil spirits. This they replace by the belief in miracles 
and the devil. 

As confirmation of what I saw, I need only quote the 
words of a high official to whom I was talking one day, 
" I am going to do a kindness to the fathers," he said, 
"by sending them back a shepherd of theirs that had 
escaped." 

" But how can you force a man," I asked, " to go back 
to work which he does not like, if he is under no contract, 
and earns his living by work elsewhere ? " 

" Oh," he said, " but I made the man come to me, and 
asked if he had been paid for. He said, ' Yes,' so I told 
him he was a scoundrel to leave his masters and put 
them to so much trouble. So I sent him back to them 
with two sepoys." 

" But that is slavery," I said. 

" Oh, no," he said, " not if the man has been bought. 
Don't you think it necessary to force the blacks to work 
for the masters who have paid for them ?" 

In fine, although there are no slave markets in Portu- 
guese Africa, slavery exists, nevertheless, on a much larger 
scale than it did, for instance, in Egypt twenty years ago. 
I had heard a good deal of it before I reached Tete, but 
I never imagined that it was anything like what I actually 
found it to be. Slavery is universal. You can buy a 
slave anywhere, the price ranging from one to four pieces 
of calico. Matakania was the principal merchant in the 
trade ; but everybody, black or white, either is engaged in 
it, or encourages it by buying slaves. I have heard people 
of education and refinement say, " Oh, this girl " — or 
" this boy," as the case may be — " belongs to me. I 
bought her myself, and paid so much." These slaves are 
always taken in war. A chief sends his men on a raid, 
and they bring him back thirty, forty, or fifty men and 
women. They are led back in various ways, usually by a 
cord round their necks. But the Angoni have a way of 
binding their slaves by making an incision in the skin 
249 




THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

of the waist, and passing the thong through it. Ten years 

ago slaves were branded hke cattle, each master having 

his own distinctive brand. This generally took the form 

of two or more incisions across the chest. 

Now that slavery is no longer recognised, 

the treatment of these creatures by the 

^-^ "^^^^BF whites is very much worse than it was, 

since their value is now infinitesimal, as 

":, they can only be bought, but not sold 

*^ again. In most cases, however, they do 

not seem unhappy. 

Another feature of society on the Portu- 

' guese Zambezi is, so far as I know, without 

" , any parallel in the world. All the white 

men established there have one, two, three, 

or even four native wives, with whom they 

:he mark of slavery live openly. They are dressed like the 

ON THE CHEST. Ordinary native women, in a single piece 

of stuff, which covers them from above the 

breasts to below the knees. They are, in fact, servants — 

a little higher than the ordinary domestics, but treated 

in almost exactly the same way. They live with the 

servants, and yet whenever they bear their master a child 

he takes it publicly to church to be baptized, and gives a 

little entertainment in its honour. There were few men I 

met at Tete who had not two or three half-bred children ; 

yet, strangely enough, anybody who legally married a 

native woman would lose caste. These women are not 

jealous one of another, nor even of any of the servants of 

the house upon whom the master may smile ; but they 

are furious if he bestows his favours outside the house. 

The Church appears to find this kind of relation perfectly 

natural, as I have several times heard the cure ask how 

so-and-so's wife was. And this state of things is found 

not only among private residents, but also among the 

highest officials and military officers. In this kind of 

relation affection seems to play no part. The woman 

250 



THE PORTUGUESE ON THE ZAMBEZI 

has not much more place in the family than a dog in 
England. They eat on the floor after their master has 
finished ; indeed, they are simply machines for the manu- 
facture of mulattos. Yet, strangely enough, while there 
seems to be no affection for the mother, the white men 
often love their children tenderly. When they travel they 
very frequently take wives and children with them. I was 
talking one day to a high official, and remarked that one 
of his servants, a little girl of perhaps eight, was very 
pretty. " Yes," he said, " I am waiting until she grows 
older." This gentleman, who is over forty-five, has already 
four wives — three living in his house — and between them 
three children from one to four years old. I said to him 
that I could not understand how he had these children 
baptized in church and let them bear his name. " Anyone 
who behaved otherwise," he answered simply, "would be 
a scoundrel, unfit for decent men to speak to." The 
Portuguese in this colony, in short, live under a code of 
morality which they have made for themselves, and which 
is quite different from that of any other European 
society I ever heard of It is Orientalism without 
Oriental luxury. 

There is absolutely no restriction on the sale of in- 
toxicating liquors to the natives. Public functionaries dis- 
tribute alcoholic drinks to everybody by way of largesse. 
When they are on a journey they deal liquor out to all the 
people of every village they pass through, even to women 
and children. I saw it done more than once, and drunken 
natives were singing and dancing the whole night. I do 
not assert that drink is given with any bad motives ; it 
is simply as I say, a kind of largesse, which is freely 
distributed, but which is surely the most mistaken form 
of kindness possible. 

This colony is very heavily handicapped by the fact 

that until quite lately most of the settlers and some of 

the officials either were or had been convicts. I was 

introduced to this fact in a rather startling manner. One 

251 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

day I was playing billiards at the club at Tete, of which 
I have already spoken. The marker was exceedingly 
drunk, and fell up against me several times. I pointed 
out to the president what a disgraceful state the man 
was in. 

" Oh, yes," he replied, " he certainly is, but all the same 
I cannot find it in my heart to be hard on the poor 
fellow. You see he is very hard up ; he only gets about 
£i a month as billiard marker, and the same amount as 
lamplighter. Outside that he has nothing in the world 
except the £i which he gets from the gaol." 

"The gaol?" I asked. "What do you mean? Is he 
employed at the gaol ? " 

" Oh, no," said the president, " he is a convict ; he is 
doing ten years' hard labour." 

It appeared that the poor fellow had had the misfortune 
to kill his uncle, I think it was. I was astounded at first 
to find myself almost entirely surrounded by convicts, but 
I soon got used to it. 

I may add a pleasing little anecdote concerning the cure 
in one of the towns, who was hated by all who knew him. 
He had a sacristan under him, who received 5000 reis a 
month — a little more than a guinea. The cure approached 
him one day and said it would be a much cheaper plan, 
and better for all parties, if the sacristan gave up his 
salary to him, in return for which he would feed him at 
his own table and give him his clothes. The unsuspecting 
sacristan saw economy in the proposal, and agreed to 
it. But when he found that the cure only gave him a 
little rice and some beans to eat he began to change his 
mind, and in a week, being reduced to a very low state, 
he had had enough of it. He therefore refused to con- 
tinue the arrangement, upon which the cure refused to 
give him back his clothes. The unfortunate sacristan 
had to bring an action to get them back. On Christmas 
Day, I was told, this cure held a public auction in front 
of the church for the benefit of that institution. It was 
252 



THE PORTUGUESE ON THE ZAMBEZI 




HIPPOPOTAMUS HEAD 
(Lower Zambezi). 



an auction of rather an original character, consisting in 

the drinking of large glasses of water, containing about 

a couple of pints. He put up each glass for auction. 

On somebody crying out, " A thousand reis if the cure 

drinks it" — he did drink 

it ; and in this way he 

swallowed no less than 

seven of these glasses. 

After that he proceeded to 

a midnight mass, which was 

not more dignified. He had 

borrowed a musical box, 

and by way of attracting 

a congregation set it going 

before the service. The 

first tune it produced was 

" Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay." 

It may not be known 
that the colonists of Portuguese Zambezia are mostly 
electors for the Cortes in Lisbon. The province of 
Mozambique sends two members, one for the provinces 
of Cape Delgado and Mozambique, the other for the 
Zambezi districts — Inhambane and Lorenzo Marques. 
Every head of a family, black or white, is an elector. 
The polling places are always churches, and the priest 
has to be present at the election to certify the identity 
of the voters. The election is thus a very simple matter 
for the lessees of each prazzo. They give each of their 
natives a piece of paper with the name of the constituent 
they support written on it, and say, "Take this letter to 
the Governor at the church." The natives go to the 
church, hand over the letter, give their names, and there 
you are. 

In this brief sketch I have laid more stress on the 

defects of Portuguese rule than on its merits ; but it 

must not be inferred from this that it is without merits. 

The more recently appointed Portuguese officers and 

253 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

officials, for instance, are almost all men of the highest 
character and capacity. 

The fact that they are handicapped by the system 
under which they have to work is more the fault of the 
Cortes at Lisbon than their own. To me, personally, 
both whites and blacks constantly showed the greatest 
kindness, and it was easy to see that this was perfectly 
genuine. I think that it would be a good thing both 
for Portuguese and English in Mashonaland to establish 
a connection between the two countries. Each nation 
has something to gain from the other, and the present 
cordial relations between them would only become more 
and more cordial with time. 



254 



CHAPTER XII. 



NYASALAND 




AS I said before, I left Tete on the 30th of January in 
the gunboat Cuaina. At Bongo, our halting-place 
the first night after leaving Tete, the Zambezi is about 
two miles broad. When we reached the Gorge of Lupata, 
which we did early the second morn- 
ing, the spectacle v;as most imposing. 
On the right hand were enormously 
high cliffs towering above the river; 
on the left grand hills gently sloping 
down to it : a magnificent stream 
flowed majestically between. It took 
two hours and a half to pass through 
this gorge, after which the Cuama 
stopped all day to get wood. The 
next day saw a complete change in 
the scenery. The river was now 
nearly four miles broad, and ran 

through many channels, between numerous islands. Thanks 
to one of these we made no progress whatever this day. 
Another gunboat, which was carrying the mails, passed 
us steaming up another channel, so we went back after 
her to get letters, and stayed the rest of the day. On 
the 2nd of February we came to a small village on an 
island opposite Iniakatanda. There we met a native chief 
who had given valuable help to the Portuguese in one of 
their wars. In recognition of this service two hundred 
and seventy pieces of cloth were now to be distributed to 
255 



\ 



TYPE OF MANIANJA, 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

him and his men. The chief arrived next day, and asked 
the Governor to stay there one day longer and go to the 
mainland, where all his men would come to get their 
calico. The uniform in which this gentleman came on 
board deserves to be chronicled — a blue dolman with 
cavalry epaulets, naval buttons, and infantry stripes. 

It took a quarter of an hour next day to get to the 
mainland, and after waiting an hour or two we saw the 
natives begin to roll up. They were in great numbers, 
all armed with guns and decked with ornaments and 
most wonderful hats of their own manufacture. They 
were formed up in ranks, if ranks they could be called, 
and came to salute the Governor, dancing a war dance. 
War drums were beaten, and the men in the ranks all 
sang together, while from time to time one sprang 
forward and simulated with a battle-axe the attacking 
and killing of an enemy. This performance lasted about 
six hours, after which we left, passed the military station 
of Gwengwe, and steamed on down the river till about 
half-past five. The Zambezi kept widening: it is here 
five or six miles broad, and covered with islands. The 
banks are very marshy, and must be most unhealthy. 

Next day we met the Sabre, another Portuguese gun- 
boat, which was to take me to Chiromo, in the British 
sphere of influence. This boat was astern of the two 
gunboats which had brought us from Tete, and instead 
of keeping the prescribed distance of "200 yards went 
ahead full speed and came up within 50 yards of us. 
The natural result followed. We got into shallow water 
and signalled the fact to her, but she had no time to 
stop, and went at full speed into a sandbank, where she 
remained stuck. It took the rest of that day and night 
and a good part of the next to get her off I spent 
the day in making an excursion to the town of Senna, 
which is built in the middle of a marsh at the foot of 
a hill. It consists of a few houses and a small fort. 
In former times the Zambezi used to run round the 
256 



NYASALAND 

base of the fort, whereas now it is half an hour from 
the river. This confirms the theory that the volume of 
the river is greatly diminished. 

Early on the morning of February 8th my goods were 
transferred on board the Sabre. The three gunboats left 
together — the Governor's two down the Zambezi, while 
we went down the Ziu-Ziu, which joins it opposite Senna, 
and connects it with the Shire. The Sabre seemed to make 
a habit of taking the bit between her teeth, for once more 
we dashed off at full speed, and in an hour were again 
fast on a sandbank. Everything had to be unloaded on 
to an island, but even so we could not get off until the 
next afternoon. Then we went on for a short distance, 
and stopped for the night at Mosquito Bank — well named 
indeed. The Ziu-Ziu runs through a marsh covered with 
the greatest number of geese, ducks, and other sorts of 
water fowl I ever saw. In the distance at certain points 
we caught sight of real forests of palm trees. On the 
loth we entered the Shire. This river is only a hundred 
yards or so broad, running between low banks. On the 
nth we reached Port Herald, the first station of the 
Nyasaland Protectorate, on the right bank of the Shire. 

We heard very bad news of the state of things higher 
up : it was said that a hundred thousand natives had 
risen and were attacking Fort Johnston. This made 
me the more anxious to hurry on, though it diminished 
the chance of my being able to do so. Need I say that 
we wound up the day by running aground, and did 
not get off till the following morning } Here the captain 
decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and 
that he could go no further. I got some boats from the 
British station near, which took on board part of my goods, 
but had to wait three or four days before I could start off 
with the rest. Two days brought me to Chiromo, where 
I was very kindly received by the Portuguese officer in 
command. The Portuguese station here is on the left 
bank of the Ruo ; the British on the right. The first 
s 257 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

consists of a house, an iron store, and a well-built 
magazine. On the British side, which I next visited, 
I was almost startled to see the extraordinary amount 
of work that had been done. A new house occupied 
by Mr. Hillier was surrounded by a large compound, 
scrupulously clean, from which there were roads branching 
out in all directions. On one side of the station was a 
private factory consisting of half a dozen or more houses 
with laid paths, and the beginning of a garden. On the 
other side was the office of the African Lakes Corporation, 
presenting a wonderful contrast with the rest. The 
buildings were falling to pieces, and looked as if they 
had never been clean in their life. 

The most alarming news was rife at Chiromo about 
the war up country. Fort Johnston, they said, was 
isolated, and the Commissioner cut off. Two white men 
had been killed and one captured. The rebellion, it 
was added, was rapidly spreading down the river. Blue- 
jackets had been sent for, and relief asked from the 
men-of-war at Zanzibar. I hardly knew whether to 
believe these terrible accounts or not, but came to the 
conclusion that, on the whole, they were probably ex- 
aggerated. This opinion was confirmed by a steamer 
which arrived the day before I had intended to leave. 
I wanted, in any case, to get up to Nyasaland and see 
what was going on ; that being so, of course all the 
porters I had engaged took the opportunity to desert. 
Fortunately, the Pfeil, Major Wissmann's steamer, arrived 
just then, and her captain kindly offered to take me up 
with him. I accepted with pleasure, and started two 
days later. The Pfeil was towing three English boats 
with stores and a large German barge. We had not 
steamed an hour before we ran aground. The captain 
did all he could to get off, but was unsuccessful. In 
the evening he killed a large crocodile under the steamer 
—I had nearly fallen into the water a moment before 
—but even this did nothing to get the vessel off. So 
258 



I 



NYASALAND 

I returned next morning to Chiromo, got the remaining 
porters I required, and started that afternoon overland. 
I was promised that I should be captured or killed 
by the natives ; but I doubted that, and in any case 
resolved to chance it. 

The march led us first through the Elephant marsh, 
formerly full of these animals, with grass everywhere 
six feet high. At times we passed beautiful palm 
forests, the trunks festooned with creepers. These 
forests, however, were the only pleasing feature of the 
march, for the grass got higher and higher. On the 
second day it was ten feet high, while on the third we 
had to cross a regular forest of reeds fifteen feet high. 
Nothing could be more trying than walking through this 
long grass ; it was constantly hitting me in the face and 
tearing my arms. 

On the third day we reached the Muabanzi river, 
which we found very full. I sent some of my men to 
try and ford it, but they said it was full of crocodiles, 
and would not venture in the water until I had fired 
several shots into it. When they did go in they 
very soon found themselves out of their depth. We 
tried several other places, and at last found one where 
there were only four feet of water. My headmen went 
in here, but the others declined, and I took off my clothes 
and swam across to set them an example. Then they 
all followed eagerly, and only one lost his footing, and 
dropped two hundred yards of calico, which was imme- 
diately carried away by the current. I afterwards heard 
that this river simply swarms with crocodiles, which 
I can well believe, although I am bound to say I did 
not see any. Going forward again, we passed the 
camp of Wissmann's Expedition, on our way to the 
British station of Chikwawa. Here the two stern - 
wheel gunboats Mosquito and Herald were stationed ; 
the place was covered with innumerable packages, con- 
taining the pieces of two more gunboats for Lake Nyasa. 
259 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

The gunboats were lying up, the crews having been 
hurried to the seat of war. The Shire about here swarms 
with crocodiles. The natives catch them with forked 
sticks, which get fixed between their jaws when they 
try to eat the meat attached to them. More often, 
however, the crocodile catches and eats the natives ; 
one man had been devoured the morning of my arrival. 
They dread this reptile so much that they never draw 
water from the river except by tying a calabash to the 
end of a long stick. Some years before, during a famine, 
the crocodiles used even to land and attack the natives 
in their villages. 

A day and a half's march from here over a very 
good road, made by Captain Sclater, R.E., brought us 
to Blantyre, the capital of Nyasaland, where I was most 
kindly welcomed by the constructor of the road himself. 
I was put up in the house of Mr. Sharpe, the Deputy 
Commissioner — a substantial building, with the first 
sitting-room I had seen in Africa, and a piano. I 
had a very excellent lunch from real China plates and 
real glass glasses, served on a tablecloth — and you 
cannot imagine what a luxury it was. That evening 
Mr. Sharpe came home, and while we were at dinner 
Mr. H. H. Johnston himself, the Commissioner — now 
Sir Harry — came in from Matope. The war, he said, 
was all over. It was sufficient to be in Mr. Johnston's 
company for ten minutes to be won over for life by 
his charming manner. He was tired with his journey, 
yet showed himself a most brilliant talker. He had 
been kind enough to send me special messengers to 
bring me from Tete overland. Unfortunately they left 
too late to catch me ; but I was most grateful for the 
attention all the same. 

I remained in Nyasaland nearly a month, rejoicing 

in the delightful companionship of Mr. Johnston and his 

staff, which formed a charming interlude between the 

wearisome journeys I had just come through and the long 

260 



NYASALAND 

stretch which was to follow. Through their constant 
and kindly aid I was able to make myself acquainted 
with the leading points bearing upon the past history 
and the future prospects of this part of British Central 
Africa. Sir Harry Johnston has lately published a book 
on his Protectorate which will remain a monument in the 
history of Africa. I will therefore confine myself to a 
brief sketch of what I learnt in Nyasaland, referring the 




BRITISH GUNBOATS ON THE SHIRE AT CHIKWAWA. 

readers to this great work, in which Sir Harry has also 
revealed himself as an artist only surpassed by Landseer. 

After the discovery of Lake Nyasa by Livingstone, a 
Scotch Mission established itself to the south of the 
lake, whither a steamer was transported for the use of 
the missionaries. About eighteen years ago a commercial 
Company, the African Lakes Corporation, opened a 
trading station at Blantyre, in the mountainous region 
near the Upper Shire. A steamer plied on this river from 
the Zambezi as far as the Murchison Rapids, while above 
them the missionary steamer was acquired by the Cor- 
poration. Little by little this boat extended its operations 
northwards along -the lake, and a station was established 
261 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

at Karonga. The Arab merchants installed in this region 
were alarmed at the appearance of this competitor, and 
were afraid that they would find themselves hampered 
in the slave trade which they carried on. They therefore 
attacked the station of the Lakes Corporation. ■ Hostilities 
went on for some time, but without any serious result. 

In 1889 the Portuguese manifested an intention of 
occupying the Upper Shire, and Major Serpa Pinto 
advanced with an expedition up the river. Thereupon 
Mr. Johnston, at that time Consul at Mozambique, was 
sent into Nyasaland — nominally to settle the disputes 
between the Lakes Corporation and the Arabs, but really 
to report on the Portuguese doings. In this mission he 
succeeded in a diplomatic manner. He went up the river 
on one of the African Lakes steamers, hoping to pass the 
Portuguese in the night, and thus get ahead of them. 
But one day towards sunset the steamer rounded a 
bend of the river and came in full sight of Serpa 
Pinto's camp. It looked as if all were over with the 
mission, and Mr. Johnston stopped and landed. He 
explained his motives and powers frankly to Major Serpa 
Pinto over an afternoon tea, but the latter placed no 
obstacle in his way, it being understood between them 
that the Portuguese forces should not advance beyond the 
Ruo till reference had been made to Lisbon and London : 
neither should a British Protectorate be declared as long 
as the Portuguese army remained south of the Ruo. 
Serpa Pinto loyally observed this understanding and 
stopped short at the Ruo ; but while he was absent on 
the coast awaiting instructions, his impatient heutenant 
crossed the stream and marched on Blantyre; the British 
Protectorate was then declared by the late Mr. John 
Buchanan, C.M.G., Acting Consul. 

Mr. Johnston then pushed on to the north of the 

lake. He made a peaceful settlement with the Arabs, 

which on the whole was loyally maintained by them. 

The most important chief on the lake, Jumbe of 

262 



NYASALAND 

Kota-Kota, whom I had tlie pleasure of meeting later, 
proved his loyalty on more than one occasion in the 
most practical way. Mr. Johnston advanced from the 
north of Lake Nyasa to Lake Tanganika, making 
numerous treaties with the native chiefs he met on the 
way. He then returned to the coast, and for some two 
years Great Britain was only represented in this country 
by the Consul at Blantyre. In 1891 Mr. Johnston returned 




SIR HARRY JOHNSTON AND SOME OF HIS STAFF. 

I. Mr. Alfred Sharpe, Deputy Commissioner. 2. Sir H. H. Johnston.^ 

3. Captain Bertie Sclater, R.E. 4. A Naval Officer from the Shire. 

5. Captain Sclater's Servant. 

as Commissioner for Nyasaland, as well as Consul-General 
for Mozambique and Administrator of the huge region 
belonging to the British South Africa Company north 
of the Zambezi. He then set about the extraordinarily 
successful work which has stamped him as one of the 
great men of African history and the ablest of Colonial 
Administrators. 

The problem which confronted Mr. Johnston at the 
beginning of his administration was widely different from 
that faced by the Chartered Company. The latter had to 
263 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

tackle a work of colonization not altogether different 
from that which had been dealt with in the past in 
America and Australia, or, to take a more exact parallel, 
in the previously settled portions of South Africa. There 
was indeed a large native population to be managed, but 
the future prosperity of the country as a British posses- 
sion was primarily ensured by bringing in white settlers. 
Rhodesia, south of the Zambezi, is, as I have already 
insisted, a white man's country ; and though there is no 
reason to expect the immediate disappearance of the 
native, as he has disappeared in America and Australia, 
it is to the white man's work that the country looks for 
its future greatness. The white man can make his home 
there, and can bring up his family to succeed him. In 
Nyasaland and British Central Africa generally^using 
this expression to denote all the British territory north 
of the Zambezi — colonization by white men is a very 
different affair. Taking the country as a whole, it must 
be pronounced unfit at present, and in great part likely 
to remain unfit, to become the home of Europeans. 
There are, it is true, certain not inconsiderable patches 
of high ground where Europeans can preserve their health, 
and perhaps even rear children. These districts are for 
the most part over 5000 feet in altitude. They comprise, 
first, the plateau of Mlanje, which rises at its greatest 
elevation to 10,000 feet above sea level. The temperature 
is moderate, the air bracing, and the soil suited partly 
for the cultivation of European vegetables, and partly 
for pasturage. The drawback is the exceedingly heavy 
rainfall, which amounts to nearly 75 inches annually, and 
its limited extent, which according to Sir Harry Johnston's 
calculation hardly exceeds 36,000 acres. More extensive 
than this is the Nyika Plateau, which rises to an average 
altitude of 7000 feet. Its extent is reckoned at 1250 
square miles. This region again is well watered — not so 
superabundantly as Mlanje — temperate, fertile, and hardly 
inhabited by natives. These two areas, of which the first 
364 



NYAS ALAND 

is situated in the extreme south-east of the territory, the 
second to the west of Nyasa, almost at its head, are the 
largest districts suitable for European colonization. There 
are, however, several other areas of high ground dotted 
here and there over the whole province, each affording 
an almost ideal habitation for white men. The plateau of 
Zomba is one of these, and there are several others in 
the whole country westward of the lake. 

But these, even taken all together, make up the very 
smallest portion of the whole country. It is, perhaps, 
the most remarkable feature of Sir Harry Johnston's rule 
that he recognized immediately that, so far as the rest 
of the country is concerned, it is unfit for development 
by white labour, and set to work to devise other means 
of progress. The work of civilization he laid down clearly 
from the very outset must be carried on by lower races 
under European direction. This decision may be thought 
a simple exercise of very ordinary common sense. But the 
annals of European colonization, from Darien to Mada- 
gascar, prove that this common sense, which in the 
colonial administrator may be called a form of self- 
denial, is very much rarer than might have been expected. 
For the present, then, until man acquires a power over 
the conditions of climate that will make him practically 
independent of nature, Sir Harry Johnston looks for the 
development of his Protectorate to a limited white 
population perched on the high ground, and thence 
controlling a large, settled, and industrious black popu- 
lation. 

To this end the first step was to get the population 
large and settled. And the first necessity was to suppress 
the slave trade. Sir Harry Johnston early resolved that 
the curse of Central Africa was the Arab, and that the 
Arabs must be expelled. At the present day he has 
virtually succeeded in expelling them. For my own 
part, my experience has led me to take views perhaps 
less extreme, both as to the forcible suppression of the 
265 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

slave trade and the iniquity of the Arabs, than those 
held by the Commissioner. But of course I recognize 
that he knows very much more of the country under 
his rule than I do, and it is impossible to deny that 
the arguments by which he supports his opinion are 
most powerful. He says that the discovery of the founda- 
tions of old villages, old pottery and the like, buried 
under several feet of soil, is evidence that this part of 
Africa once contained a much denser native population 
than it carries at present, and one considerably superior 
in culture. He attributes the degeneration of the black 
races to the introduction of the slave trade at the period 
when the Arabs first established their influence on the 
East coast, and to its enormous development when the 
Portuguese arrived with firearms and gunpowder. The 
country was depopulated, big game spread over the 
deserted tracks, and the tsetse fly followed. Such 
natives as remained in their homes, being liable at any 
moment to be attacked and carried into slavery, found 
no inducement to develop the country more than was 
required to produce food for the necessities of the 
mom.ent. To do more was to invite aggression, plunder, 
and enslavement. It cannot be denied that there is 
very much reason in this. I am not in favour of the 
violent and immediate suppression of slavery where it 
is the one known industrial organization, and where 
there is nothing ready to take its place. But I recognize 
quite fully that there is all the difference in the world 
between Zanzibar, and even Ujiji, where the Arab makes 
himself a home, and the districts of Central Africa, where 
he is a mere adventurer, only concerned in making a 
fortune as quickly as possible, and retiring to enjoy it 
elsewhere. Taking this difference into account, I make 
no doubt that Mr. Johnston's determination to get rid 
of the Arabs as quickly as possible — always excepting 
the benign Jumbe — was eminently just and necessary. 
The tribe which gave most trouble in the course of 
?66 



NYASALAND 

its suppression, and led the Adnninistration into continual 
wars, was that of the Yaos. They originally lived to the 
east of Lake Nyasa, and supported themselves for the 
most part by plundering their neighbours. By contact with 
the Arabs they acquired a slight tinge of Mahommedan- 
ism, and an intense enthusiasm for the slave trade. Under 
pressure of invasion from the north, and of famine, they 
began to work westward round the southern end of 
Lake Nyasa, dispossessing the original inhabitants, the 
Manianja, either by violence or by absorption. When the 
country became a British Protectorate, and slave-trading 
was put down, the Yaos began to give trouble. Those 
who lived within the immediate sphere of British influence 
soon submitted, both nominally and actually. Those 
further east placed themselves theoretically under Her 
Majesty's protection, but soon took up arms in defence 
of their inalienable right to enslave their fellow men. 
During the whole time that I was in Nyasaland, and 
for a long while afterwards, desultory fighting went on. 
It was the Yaos whose attack created the alarm in the 
southern stations which was my first introduction to 
Nyasaland. But both then and later they were defeated, 
their esteemed Arab chiefs expelled or reduced to sub- 
jection, and the slave trade among them almost entirely 
stamped out. The difficulties were not entirely at an 
end when I was in the country ; but the victories of the 
Commissioner and of the late Captain Maguire, im- 
mediately before my arrival, had conclusively shown that 
the work was only a matter of time. 

At the moment of my visit to the Protectorate the 
Yaos were the only tribe with which the Administration 
had come to hostilities. The other principal black 
races of the Protectorate, naming them in their order 
northwards along the Shire and the lake, are the 
Makololo, the Manianja, the Angoni, and the Atonga. 
The distinction between the two first-named is more a 
matter of title than anything else. The Makololo came 
267 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

originally from Bechuanaland, and marched north to- 
wards the Zambezi about fifty years ago, where they 
ruled over the Barotse, as I have already described. 
The original Makololo of Nyasaland were imported by 
Dr. Livingstone, who left about a dozen of them 
as herdmen in the Shire district to help the Manianja 
against the attacks of the Yaos. At the present day 
there is hardly a trace of anything distinctive in the way 
of language among them. The Manianja, the original 
inhabitants, are a peaceable and industrious race, who 
have been much harried in their time by the Portuguese 
and the Yaos. Agriculture and blacksmiths' work are the 
industries in which they most excel. The Angoni, who 
stretch northward, are of Zulu descent, as I have already 
said. There is not, however, very much Zulu left in 
them. Intermarrying, according to the custom of their 
tribe, with the conquered Manianja, these also, for the 
most part, have lost their distinctive institutions and 
language. Such at any rate is the case with those on 
the shore of the lake, though in the higher grounds 
westward I was told they still speak the Zulu tongue. 
They are a fine race physically, and, like their progenitors 
in the south, are far more honest and trustworthy when 
they take up work for Europeans than most African 
tribes. They are, however, predatory and turbulent. The 
Atonga inhabit the middle western shore of Lake 
Nyasa. But for the arrival of Europeans they would 
probably have been raided out of existence by their 
Angoni neighbours. The earliest missionaries, however, 
by a judicious mixture of remonstrance and subsidy, 
protected the Atonga from their oppressors, and these 
people show their gratitude by steadily supporting the 
white men, and coming south in considerable numbers 
to work for them. They are not always absolutely 
orderly, and not irreproachably honest, but they are 
very useful to the whites. 

These, then, were the heterogeneous and troublesome 
268 



NYASALAND 

material out of which Sir Harry Johnston set to work to 
build up a great African province. There was little enough 
apparently to be done with them ; they were absolutely 
uncivihzed, without the least understanding of the 
methods and requirements of the white man ; and, to 
add to the difficulty, the climate made it almost impossible 
for the white man to live among them. In this fix Sir 
Harry Johnston had the brilliant idea of bringing in natives 
of India, so that the yellow man might serve as an interme- 
diary between the black and the white. He thought that 
whereas the black and white races stand too far apart in 
development to intermarry and produce a satisfactory 
medium between the two, there was a great possibility 
of elevation for the negro by a mixture of Indian blood. 
The evidence of the Arab half-castes on the East Coast 
and the Soudanese of mixed Berber and negro race points 
decidedly to the fact that a cross of Asiatic and negro 
will produce a race superior in intelligence to the primitive 
black, and in no way inferior in physique. At the time 
of my visit to Nyasaland it was of course far too early 
to judge whether this experiment was likely to succeed 
or fail. It is still too early at the present day ; but, apart 
from the matter of breeding, it is undeniable that the 
importation of Indians has been an enormous help to the 
young country. It is mainly by a small force of Sikhs 
that the handful of British officers have been able to put 
down the slave-trading chiefs, with invariable and brilliant 
success. Industrially, again, the Indian is a link between 
the Englishman and the negro. Perfectly able to stand 
the chmate, the Indian finds his place as a retail trader, 
collecting native produce in small quantities for the 
British wholesale merchant, and distributing European 
goods to the natives. A considerable number of Indian 
artificers have settled in the country, and have done good 
work in teaching their crafts to the blacks. Subordinate 
offices under Government have also largely been filled 
by natives of British India. In any case, whether it 
269 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

succeeds or fails, Sir Harry Johnston's attempt to use a 
middle race for the elevation and development of the 
African is perhaps the most original and interesting con- 
tribution to the problem of civilizing the Dark Continent 
that any one man has yet made. 

To Sir Harry Johnston's indefatigable activity is due 
the enormous progress realized in that part of Africa, but 
v;^e must not forget Mr. Rhodes's share in the accomplish- 
ment of this great work. Until last year the Chartered 
Company allowed Sir Harry a subsidy of ;^ 17,000, which 
enabled him to face the first necessary expenditure of his 
Administration. The Chartered Company has derived 
much benefit from it, as it has opened out the route to its 
own territory ; since the Company has taken over the 
administration of Northern Zambezia this subsidy has 
been withdrawn, and therefore, in order to fill up this gap, 
and in return for the sacrifices made by the Government in 
the suppression of the slave trade and for the benefits that 
the natives derived from these sacrifices, it was thought 
that taxes should be levied upon them as far as possible. 
Sir Harry Johnston of course was only able to begin with 
the more settled districts, as the tax-collector would hardly 
have been a welcome guest elsewhere. But with regard 
to the country in the southern part of the Protectorate, 
surprisingly little difficulty was encountered on this head. 
Perhaps it is a unique fact in the history of government 
that the natives actually came and offered to be taxed. 
The natives of the Lower Shire province had been accus- 
tomed to pay taxes to the Portuguese, and when the district 
was taken over by Sir Harry Johnston they approached 
him to ask what they were to pay. Thereon the Commis- 
sioner held interviews with all the more important chiefs 
he could get at, and, as the result of treaties with them, a 
hut tax of six shillings a year was levied. This was 
subsequently reduced by one half, and it appeared to be 
paid without any difficulty. Ten per cent, or so of the 
sum raised among the people of each chief was returned 
270 



NYASALAND 

to this gentleman as a subsidy, so that he viewed the 
march of civih'zation in this direction without over- 
whelming regret. 

The question of native labour has not been much easier 
in Nyasaland than in any other part of Central Africa. 
It has impeded coffee culture, road making, draining, 
everything. On the other hand, the hut tax furnishes a, 
mild stimulus to labour, while the careful attention of 
the Government to the fair treatment and fair payment of 
the native labourer has done a good deal to reconcile 
him to the horrors of regular work. When he under- 
stands that he may complain of any illtreatment to the 
nearest official with a good chance of redress, he becomes 
far less shy of entering the white man's service. For the 
rest, Sir Harry Johnston was doubtless perfectly right in 
interfering as little as possible between the chiefs and the 
people. There is an appeal from the decision of a chief 
to the nearest magistrate, but it is very little used, and 
considering the newness of the British Government, I 
should say this is a very good thing. 

In the meantime it must not be supposed that Nyasa- 
land is standing still to wait for the Indian cultivator 
or the complete reconciliation of the native to work. The 
parts of the country which are unfit for agricultural 
production of one sort or another are probably very 
small, although it is true that over a great deal of it 
the rainfall is comparatively slight and shows a tendency 
to decrease. This fact was ascribed by Sir Harry Johnston 
mainly to the disappearance of the great forests. But 
in consequence of the wide range of temperature there 
is hardly any vegetable product — tropical, sub-tropical, or 
temperate — that cannot be produced in one part of the 
country or another. The disappearance of the forests 
has of course on one side greatly diminished the wealth of 
the country. There remain, however, magnificent forests 
of cedar trees on the Mlanje Plateau of a variety not 
known elsewhere. Attempts have been made to reintro- 
271 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

duce it in the higher altitudes of the Shire district. 
When I was at Blantyre the tree was newly discovered, 
and had not yet been put to practical use, but since then 
this wood has been largely used both for building and for 
the manufacture of furniture. Several varieties of palm 
are found fairly plentifully and used freely for constructing 
stakes, piles, and the like, being impervious both to the 
white ant and to rot through the action of water. The 
oil palm and the cocoanut palm are also found, and could 
probably be largely spread. Then there is the bamboo, 
of whose thousand uses there is no need for me to speak. 
Until the advent of the European the African in this part 
of the world made singularly little use of it. Here, at 
any rate, is one point in which he has much to learn from 
his white master and his yellow elder brother. Reeds 
and rushes — a heartbreaking nuisance to the traveller — 
can be made exceedingly useful for thatching and 
matting. 

But the great triumph of Central Africa has been in 
coffee, and there seems no reason why it should not 
become one of the most prosperous centres for this pro- 
duction in the whole world. It was introduced, like many 
other plants, in consequence of the intelligent enterprise 
of the late Mr. John Buchanan. This gentleman first 
came out as a horticulturist in the service of the Church 
of Scotland Mission. He got coffee plants from the 
Edinburgh Botanical Gardens and planted them in the 
mission grounds at Blantyre. They flourished so well 
that Mr. Buchanan took up large plantations of his 
own, and many other settlers followed his example. 
The greater number of plants in the Shire district had 
not in 1892 yet come into bearing; but since that time 
the total export has gradually risen to 350 tons, and 
will probably rise very much higher in the future. 

I had the opportunity, at Chiradzulu, of seeing how a 
coffee plantation is made. The land is cleared for plant- 
ing by cutting down the timber and uprooting the bush, 
272 




NYASALAND 

which is then burnt according to the native method, the 
ashes being mixed with the soil. The ground is then 
cleared of grass by hoeing, and laid out in rows six 
or seven feet apart ; at similar intervals along the rows 
pits are dug some i8 inches deep. This takes place in 
June, and the pits are left open until September. Mean- 
while the planter is rearing his seedlings, which he plants 
out at the beginning of the rains late in November. 
About 60 or 70 acres can ^ 

be opened up in a year if 
100 men are employed. 
The coffee begins to bear 
in three years, being 
ready for picking about 
the end of June. It is 
then passed through a 

pulper, which separates ^ '' -^'-^ 

the bean from the fleshy "^^ 
fruit which covers it. The 
beans are then fermented 

in a brick vat for over -- % \ 

twenty - four hours, then \ 

passed into a second vat, \ 

washed, and dried. The ' \, 

yield per acre is on the 

average about 3 cwt. In angoni at chiradzulu. 

some cases as much as 

17 cwt. per acre has been turned out, but this is of 
course very exceptional. The coffee fetches a good price 
in the London markets : it averaged about io|d. per lb. 
a few years ago, and the price has improved since. 

The immediate prosperity of Nyasaland must rest upon 
its agriculture, especially upon its coffee plantations, and 
perhaps, after that, upon the cultivation of the sugar cane. 
This latter cultivation was in its infancy in my time, but 
I believe it has made great strides since. Yet although 
it is to agriculture that most attention has been given, it 

T 273 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

is not improbable that Nyasalaiid, like all the neighbour- 
ing territories, is highly mineralized. The country is 
especially rich in iron ; but to be of practical value this 
metal must of course be found in the immediate neigh- 
bourhood either of coal or of large forests, Vi/hich might 
supply fuel for smelting. The large forests, as I have said, 
have by now almost disappeared ; but a considerable coal- 
field is known to exist on the north-west shore of Lake 
Nyasa, and, for aught anybody knows, there may be many 
more. Gold is found among the south-western mountains, 
and in the district of Marimba, part of the country ruled 
by Jumbe, the Sultan of Kota-Kota. It is also said that 
alluvial gold exists further north ; but at present very little 
development work has been done in any part. 

More important than minerals is the ivory export, 
which, indeed, makes a larger figure in the balance sheet 
of Nyasaland even than coffee. Large as it is in the 
ofhcial figures, the real quantity exported is probably 
larger, since a certain amount is smuggled out of the 
country. Elephants did not, of course, even in 1892, 
come near the settled districts except very rarely ; but in 
the wide tracts to the west of the Nyasaland Protectorate 
proper they are said to be extraordinarily abundant. 
Whether the elephant is dying out as fast as many 
people believe appears to be doubtful. Both the Commis- 
sioner and Mr. Sharpe thought that it was not. There are 
in the region of Lake Mweru large tracts of reedy marsh 
whither the elephants can retire : the natives have not the 
enterprise to follow them there, while the Government is 
too anxious to preserve the beasts to encourage white men 
in the enterprise. With this reserve at their disposal for 
refuge and breeding, it appears probable that the value 
of ivory will not lead to so rapid an extermination of 
the elephant in British Central Africa as that which has 
overtaken the animal elsewhere. 

In Nyasaland, as in the territory of the Chartered 
Company, great attention has rightly been given to 
274 






NYASALAND 

facilities of communication. I have spoken already of 
the admirable Sclater Road, of which I had the benefit 
from Chikwawa to Blantyre. As this was quite solid 
enough for waggons it was of the greatest value to the 
transport of the country. There was also a road from 
Blantyre to Zomba, and a rough road from Zomba to 
Mpimbi on the Upper Shire, by which subsequently I 
left the country. But there was not much encourage- 
ment, as Mr. Johnston pointed out, to build roads while 
the tsetse fly was rampant. What the country needed, 
and presumably needs still more to-day, was a railway 
running from the Lower to the Upper Shire. The river 
is not navigable for the whole distance because of the 
Murchison Rapids, and there is no doubt that the full 
development of trade and communication will only be 
attained by means of the locomotive. 

The postal service was established by Sir Harry 
Johnston, acting on the initiative of the Chartered 
Company. As I have already explained, it must not be 
forgotten that Sir Harry Johnston's success, though 
always primarily due to his own energy and ability, 
was much facilitated by the subsidy of ^17,000 a 
year which he was then receiving from that body. 
Thanks to their combined efforts, there is established a 
regular postal service in all the settled parts of the 
country. At the present day it is possible to post 
letters at Lake Mweru, in the very heart of Africa, and 
get them sent home for fivepence every fortnight. As for 
the telegraph, it has by now been carried from Salisbury, 
via Tete, as far as Blantyre, and it is proposed now to 
extend it northwards to Lake Tanganika and Uganda. 
Mr. Rhodes's great conception of a wire from Cape Town 
to Cairo is therefore well on its way to become solid 
fact. It may not be generally realized, by the way, among 
stay-at-home Europeans what the maintenance of this 
line means. Wire is a most precious possession in the 
eyes of the native, and it speaks most highly for his law- 
275 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

abiding respect for the white that the line is not stolen 
wholesale. 

I can say that, with the exception of Rhodesia, nothing 
I saw in Africa struck me more than the astonishing 
transformation effected in a savage country in a couple 
of years by the Commissioner and his able assistants. 
I can say, without prejudice as a Frenchman, that I 
much doubt whether this precise work could have been 
done by any but Englishmen. If it comes to that, it 
could perhaps have been done by no man but Sir Harry 
Johnston, and certainly he deserves as well of his country 
as any of her greatest Colonial Administrators. English- 
men ought to be proud to call themselves his countrymen. 

I will now return to my own unimportant doings. After 
a few days at Blantyre I went to Chiradzulu, to the coffee 
plantation of Mr. Hastings, where also I stayed for a few 
days, learning what I could of the methods and prospects 
of this cultivation. After that I went on to Zomba, 
where Sir Harry Johnston entertained me in the kindest 
manner. His house is an ideal of beauty — built of brick, 
with a tower at each corner, and two large verandahs, 
the whole covered thickly with most lovely creepers. 
Behind the house the ground rises to a high hill covered 
with the most luxuriant vegetation, and embellished by 
a picturesque cascade. In front, a flight of steps leads 
down to a terrace covered with flower beds, and further 
down to a beautifully laid-out garden. I took great 
delight in Sir Harry's aviary, especially in a tame 
guinea fowl, which followed like a dog. The terrace 
commands a magnificent view of the Mlanje Mountains 
thirty miles away. The ground is high and the climate 
perfect ; 90 degrees is the greatest heat known. 

I now began to consider my future movements. Up to 
now my journey had always been about to conclude, and 
then some fresh vista would open before me, and I was 
in for a thousand miles or so more. I had already far 
exceeded the original limit of my trip ; but now, as on so 
276 



NYASALAND 

many other occasions, I felt that, having come so far, it 
was a pity not to go farther. At any rate, I was resolved 
to have a look at Lake Nyasa. A steamer of the African 
Lakes Corporation was on the point of leaving for the 
north of the lake, and I determined to go with her. I 
consulted Sir Harry Johnston as to my future move- 
m.ents, and suggested that from the northern end of Lake 
Nyasa I might make my way overland to Zanzibar. 

" Well," replied my host, " I don't quite see how it 
would work. You would have to cross the country of the 
Wahehe, and they are at war with the Germans. You 
certainly could not get through, and would almost 
certainly be killed. But if you want to go home another 
way," he continued, " why not march from the northern 
end of Nyasa to Lake Tanganika, and thence to Ujiji .'' 
From Ujiji you could reach the Victoria Nyanza, and thus 
easily get across to Uganda. There you would probably 
find Sir Gerald Portal, and I am sure he would take 
you down to the coast with him." 
" It seems rather a tall order," I said. 
" Well," replied my host, " it will probably take you 
some time, but I believe it can be done." 

"Very well then," I said, "I will try to do it." So I 
went down from Zomba to Mpimbi, on the Upper Shire, 
and awaited the arrival of the steamer. 

Before leaving Nyasaland it was necessary that I should 
find an interpreter who could speak Kiswahili, the language 
universally spoken from the south of Lake Tanganika 
right up to Uganda. Many men could be found speaking 
the language, but none who could also speak English. 
At last Mr. Sharpe very kindly offered to let me have his 
cook, a young boy of sixteen, David Kanisa, who had 
already been five years in his service. Very fond of 
travelling, an ardent sportsman, the boy was delighted 
to come with me. I soon appreciated his great qualities. 
Intelligent, most active, scrupulously honest, he soon 
became my right-hand man. When I was ill he nursed 
279 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

me with absolute devotion, and so pleased was I with him 
that at the end of the journey I brought him to Europe ; 
there he soon learned the ways of civilization. Wherever 
he went he became a favourite with all, and, far from 
getting spoiled, he improved his qualities. Since then 
he has never left me : he has been with me to Madagascar, 
and he has just returned with me from my last journey to 
Africa. He is devoted to me, and on my side I consider 




DAVID KANISA. 



him more as a child than as a^servant. He neither smokes 
nor drinks, and his only ambition is to learn, which he does 
with great assiduity. Sir Harry Johnston and Mr. Sharpe, 
who have both seen him since he came to Europe, have 
declared that they would never have believed that it was 
possible to make of an African native what I made of 
him. But I must say that he is a remarkable exception. 
I may perhaps appear to have insisted at too great a 
length on this subject, but the boy's devotion and qualities 
fully justify the notice I have taken of him, and besides 
he greatly contributed to the success of my journey. 
280 



CHAPTER XIII. 

FROM NYASALAND TO UJIJI 

ON the morning of March 28th the African Lakes 
Company's steamship Domira arrived from Matope. 
We left Mpimbi next morning, and then began as heart- 
breaking a voyage as I ever experienced. The Domira 
was a dirty httle boat of about 80 tons. The only 
cabin consisted of a kind of cupboard with two bunks, 
this being considered proper accommodation for three 
passengers — Mr. Crawshaw, one of the Protectorate 
officials ; Lieutenant Bronsart von Schellendorf, of Major 
Wissmann's expedition ; and myself. Not that this 
mattered, for the cabin was so hot that it was impossible 
for anybody but a very resolute suicide to sleep there. 
Meals were served in another little den : we were six 
at table, and the heat was 92° ; cockroaches, bugs, flies, 
fleas, and ants formed a large part of the daily fare. 
But this was all nothing to what was to come. We had 
hardly left Mpimbi when the steamer touched bottom, 
and finally with a jerk we ran fast aground just abreast 
of a small stockade called Fort Sharpe. There we 
remained for nine mortal days. One hour or so was 
spent every day in hauling at a hawser fastened round 
a tree, or else in digging at the sand with shovels. It 
was impossible to get the vessel afloat without unloading. 
So the captain sent for some boats, and then sat himself 
calmly down to wait for them. They took a week to 
arrive ; and then a part of the cargo was shifted, the 
fires were lit — but the Domira steadily refused to budge. 
281 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

Meanwhile, following the example of Crawshaw, who 
knew the Company's ways, I was installed ashore under 
my tent, horribly ill. I could eat nothing without the 
most violent pains in the stomach and loins ; even a 
little soup caused torments. Add to that fever, bilious 
diarrhoea, and irresistible somnolence after eating, and it 
will be understood that the week's delay was a maddening 
one. I must have been poisoned by the potted lobster 
that they gave us for breakfast — why should potted 
lobster pursue one into the wilds of Africa? — but, after all, 
my state was exactly what it had been at Hope Fountain 
a year before. I spent my time pondering a passage of 
Lieut. Young's Mission to Nyasa, of which I now began to 
realize the full truth. " I know nothing in African travel," 
he says, "so likely to break a man down as having to 
remain idle on one spot. It may be said, But why 
be idle? Reader, were you ever the victim of nightmare? 
If so, perhaps you can understand me better when I put 
the case thus. The effect of fever poison is to make 
you languid and indisposed to bestir yourself Excite- 
ment will operate beneficially upon you ; but if you have 
to live in a hut week in and week out, gazing a hundred 
times a day up a large reach of river for the expected 
appearance of a sail — anxious not to be too far away 
when the consummate moment arrives — you do not care 
to exert yourself" 

So far as I was concerned I was always asking myself, 
" What is the use ? why not return to Europe at once ? " 
But I always saved myself with my usual reflection that 
it would be a pity not to go on to Tanganika, having 
come so far. Having got there, of course I wanted to 
go on further ; and I suppose I have only to thank the 
Mahdi and his successor that I did not try to emerge into 
civilization at Cairo instead of Zanzibar. 

So I spent my days between being a little better and 
being a good deal worse, buying a few shields and assegais 
from a number of Angoni (the Zulu tribe settled west of 
282 



FROM NYASALAND TO UJIJI 

Lake Nyasa, who passed on their way to Blantyre to 
get work) and from bands of Atonga, who were continu- 
ally passing with prisoners from Liwonde up the river ; 
and asking myself, as I woke each morning and saw the 
Domira lying placidly in the sand before me, why they 
do not use elephants for draught here as they do in India. 
At last, on April 7th, thanks to the Angoni, whose services 
we had the greatest difficulty in persuading the captain 
to employ, the steamer was got afloat, and we started 
again. 

The Angoni are not such a fine set of men as the 
Matabele, the reason being that, like all Zulu tribes, they 
intermarry with the women they capture, so that they 
remain Zulu but in name and tradition; physically they are 
closer allied to the Senga than to the Zulu race. Their 
costume and weapons are similar to those of the Mata- 
bele : they wear cat and monkey skins round the waist ; 
they carry ox-hide shields of the same size and make as 
the Matabele ; their knobkerries also are similar ; their 
spears alone differ, being smaller and lighter, and used 
as throwing-spears. 

We had hardly been going ten minutes when we 
bumped against a submerged trunk and smashed one of 
the blades of the screw. A little further up we came to 
the rapids, called " The Stones," and there we ran straight 
aground on to the rocks. Boats had to be sent for once 
more from Fort Johnston, and this meant again days of 
waiting, as all the cargo had to be shifted into small 
boats before we could move on. Two days I tried to 
amuse myself by going to Fort Liwonde and back ; by 
the third the Domira was afloat again, and then another 
day was lost in cutting wood. Part of the cargo went up 
in boats to Fort Johnston, these boats having to come 
back for the other half The captain informed us that 
after leaving Fort Johnston we should have to stay a few 
days at Monkey Bay to change the broken screw. On 
the whole, there seemed just a chance that we should get 
283 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

to Karonga — less than 300 miles from Mpimbi — by the 
end of the week. 

However, on April loth we actually made some 
progress. We passed through Lake Malombwe, which 
is a good deal larger than it looks on the maps :. I should 
say from 17 to 20 miles long by 7 or 8 . broad. The 
bottom is of a rich mud, about the consistency of molasses ; 
but the surface is wonderfully clear. High mountains rise 
to right and left, and the whole scene is refreshingly 
beautiful. On leaving the lake we passed some shallows, 
and by some miracle we did not run aground, and 
reached Fort Johnston, where I was received in the 
friendliest manner by the Englishmen in charge. The 
fort is armed with a couple of seven - pounders ; the 
garrison then was forty Sikhs and Maquas. The day 
after our arrival I watched the Maqua artillerymen 
at work under Captain Johnson. Considering that they 
had never touched a cannon three months before, they 
made very good practice. The uniform of the Sikhs — 
black zouave jacket with yellow braiding, white shirt, 
yellow trousers with gaiters, and black puggery — is a 
pleasing bit of colour amid the dingy squalor of this part 
of Africa. The station outside the fort — a few houses for 
the whites, huts for the garrison, stores and the like — is 
built on the former bed of Lake Nyasa, which must have 
sunk considerably. 

I found at Fort Johnston the chief Jumbe of Kota- 
Kota, an old man of sixty, asthmatic but very intelligent ; 
he promised, at the kindly instance of Mr. Nicoll, to 
give me letters to the principal Arabs on the road to 
Ujiji. He sent a confidential agent with me to Kota-Kota, 
where I was to be joined by a follower of his by the name 
of Wana-Omari. This fellow, for the sum of twenty-five 
rupees a month — or thirty, need I add, if I was pleased 
with him — was to go with me all the way to Zanzibar, 
and explain to the Arabs that I had nothing to do with 
the suppression of the slave trade. It had been sug- 
284 



J 



FROM NYASALAND TO UJIJI 

gested by Lieutenant Bronsart von Schellendorf, who 
came up with me on the Domini, that I should join 
Major Wissmann's expedition. He reckoned, said Bron- 
sart, to occupy Ujiji with two hundred men, which, 
from all I heard of the strength of the Arabs there, I 
considered madness. On this ground, as well as others, 
I thought I should reach Ujiji sooner by travelling with 
the Arabs, with whom I had no sort of quarrel, than 
by mixing myself up with a war against them. 

On the 14th we left Fort Johnston. Once on Lake 
Nyasa itself we had to wait two hours in pouring rain 
for a couple of boats with cargo, but we anchored in 
Monkey Bay by nine in the evening. This bay is very 
picturesque, being surrounded by high hills ; it reminded 
me of Keelung in the Pescadores, recently annexed to 
Japan. Here we only stayed two days, during one of 
which an hour's work was devoted to unshipping the 
damaged screw. The natives spent the first night in 
howling for the death of one of their people, who had 
been carried off by a crocodile the day we left Fort 
Johnston. I spent it in being bitten by mosquitoes. But 
in the morning I chanced the crocodiles, and had a 
delicious swim in the lake. When we left Monkey 
Bay the deck was crowded with timber, and the Domira 
was well below her waterline. On the top of this we 
took one hundred and twenty natives on board, but had 
to put them off again next day, when I had my first 
experience of a storm on an African lake. The seas, 
short and choppy, ran at times so high that they washed 
over the bridge, and, top-heavy as we were, the steamer 
was in danger of capsizing ; we therefore insisted upon 
the captain landing the natives, which after much pressure 
he ultimately did. That morning I spent in a quarrel 
with Mwinji-Kombo, Jumbe's confidential man. He 
accused me of wishing to throw him into the lake, and 
swore he would kill me at Kota-Kota. The fact was, 
that I and he had been in a boat crowded with Atonga, 
285 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 



and that it had been on the point of capsizing. I threw 
the Atonga into the water, whereon Mwinji-Kombo, 
believing that we were about to go over, had made 
himself fast to the ship's cable, and, the boat having 
twirled round, he remained suspended above the water 
for a minute or two. In the evening we were reconciled, 
and I explained to him that, if I had wished to throw 
him overboard, I should have 
done so. To which he replied, 
" It is a journey," meaning that 
on a journey such little mis- 
understandings are all in the 
day's work. 

We reached Kota-Kota at five 
next morning. The village is 
a large one, on a low, swampy 
beach. Two dhows lay off the 
W''"""'''' ' V shore. I felt at once that I had 

arrived within the sphere of the 
Arabs : the men all wore long 
\ white robes and white turbans ; 
Jumbe's house had carved gates 
and a palm tree before it. The 
men wear sticks through a hole 
in the middle of the ear ; Jumbe's wives wore four or five 
bits of reed in their ears and a small stick through the left 
nostril. Here Jumbe's agent supplied me with two men — 
Wana-Omari and Somaili ; I paid Mwinji-Kombo ten 
rupees, and we parted on the best of terms. Next day we 
passed Bandawe, where there is a mission station of the 
Free Church of Scotland ; and the day after came to 
Luarwe, a lovely bay surrounded by hills, with a fine 
cascade in the distance : had it not been for the heat I 
could have imagined myself in a corner of a Swiss lake. 
The population of these villages is Atonga. The village 
lies within a palisade of reed covered with creepers, with 
very low gates opening into it. The thatch of the huts 
286 




^ 



TYPE OF ATONGA 

WEST OF LAKE NYASA 




FROM NYASALAND TO UJIJI 

descends to the ground, and the doors are also very low. 
The women, who are very wild, wear nothing but a piece 
of bark cloth hanging before and behind, and a girdle 
of beads : they dye their hair with ochre. Like the 
Senga women, they ornament themselves with a pelele : 
this consists of a piece of ivory, about one inch or more 
in diameter, inserted in a hole in the upper lip ; but while 
the Senga women wear it flat, the 
Atonga let it project so as to come 
above the nose, against which it 
presses. It does not seem to inter- 
fere with their speech, or even to 
inconvenience them. Fortunately 
they do not know what kissing 
means, or else it might be very 
awkward. 

Deep Bay was the next stopping -' .', 

place — and here I parted, with -^--.- -- 

regret, from Crawshaw ; thence, on ^ ; ,-' 

April 23rd, we reached Karonga. --'"^ \.i.-*-^ 
They were, very anxious there 
about the Domii'a, as well they 

might be. A few days before some natives had picked 
up a solar helmet, and it was feared she had gone down. 
She had not ; but that was all that could be said for the 
twenty-seven days of the voyage, and glad was I to see 
the last of her. 

Karonga itself lies on a low and sandy beach, but on 
the opposite shore of the Lake the Livingstone Mountains 
rise some 2500 feet above it; their sides run almost 
sheer down into the water. The station of the African 
Lakes Corporation is one of the most habitable I saw, 
but its bastioned wall is far too large ; it would need 
over 1000 men to defend it. I found here Mr. and 
Mrs. Swann and Dr. and Mrs. Cross, besides officers 
of the Lakes Corporation. Mr. Swann told me that 
the Germans had lately sustained a reverse : an expedi- 
287 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

tion sent to the coast had been massacred and two 
messengers assassinated only two days from camp. The 
Arabs of Ujiji, he added, were much excited against the 
Germans, but he assured me that with the letters Sir 
Harry Johnston had given me for Rumaliza, the chief 
Arab there, I had nothing to fear, and that I should be 
most kindly received; he added that two of their dhows 
were at the south end of Tanganika, shortly to leave for 
Ujiji. As I reckoned to arrive at Tanganika about May 
20th, I could probably make use of these to go to Ujiji. 
Getting there about June 15th, I should, with luck, reach 
Uganda at the beginning of August. 

Should I ever reach Uganda, though ? I wondered. On 
April 24th, 1893, it was just two years since I had em- 
barked for Africa. How quickly the time had gone, and 
how little I had then expected that two years after my 
departure would find me north of Lake Nyasa. Then 
I thought I was rash to undertake to reach the Zambezi, 
a gigantic enterprise, as I imagined. A year ago I 
had believed myself on the point of turning back, 
and fancied I had already done much : I was now nearly 
seven hundred miles north of where I had been then. 
If anybody had predicted this to me a year ago I should 
have laughed. Now I wondered what my people were 
thinking, and whether I should ever, at last, see my 
mother proud of her son. If I succeeded I should be 
the first man to march from the Cape to the sources 
of the Nile, and the fourteenth to traverse Africa from 
one side to the other. The following day Major Wissmann 
arrived in Karonga. When he came in to lunch he turned 
round to me and said, " Where is that Frenchman that has 
arrived here?" When I told him that I was the man, he 
expressed his astonishment, but of course, being a foreigner, 
he could not well notice my foreign accent. I had a long 
talk with him, and when he heard that I meant to go to 
Ujiji he tried hard to dissuade me from doing so, as he 
assured me that the Arabs would either kill me or else 
288 



FROM NYASALAND TO UJIJI 

keep me as a prisoner. But I placed absolute confidence 
in Sir Harry Johnston's assurances to the contrary, and, 
after all, if the worst came to the worst I could die but 
once. 

Anyhow I was resolved to have a good try for it, 
and I spent the next few days collecting my caravan 
of sixty-seven men for the journey to Lake Tanganika. 
They were enlisted in time, and on the afternoon of 
April 30th we were again on the march. After a couple 
of hours we encamped for the night at a village in a forest 
of bananas. Next morning rain began at five o'clock 
and lasted till ten, delaying our start ; in the meantime 
I discovered that my keys had been stolen. The thief 
turned out to be a new servant I had engaged at Karonga, 
so I sent him straight home again with twenty-five lashes 
on his back. When at last we got started we found 
ourselves following the course of the river Rukuru, a 
stream of some volume, which we crossed and recrossed 
several times this day and the next. We were now 
entering upon a picturesque and mountainous region 
traversed by numerous streams, and our path frequently 
led through the gorges along which the water ran. On 
the fourth day of the march we followed a delightful little 
river, the Kionga Nionga, which runs over a bed of rocks 
through most luxuriant palms and other tropical plants. 
Next we climbed a steep escarpment of rocks, and on 
the summit enjoyed a magnificent retrospect over the 
road we had come by. Westward stretched a vast plain, 
the plateau of Tanganika, and in the distance rose Mount 
Flaori, which we had seen from Karonga. Thence we 
went over a wide plain that reminded me of the plateaux 
of Mashonaland. All day we kept passing trees or rocks 
on which were placed little heaps of stones or bits of 
wood : in passing these each of my men added a new 
stone or bit of wood, or even a tuft of grass. This is 
a tribute to the spirits, the general precaution to ensure a 
safe return. 

u 289 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

In the evening we reached Mwiri Wanda, a large village 
fortifi.ed with a strong palisade. It was the filthiest I 
had yet seen in Africa. Down the middle trickled a 
small gutter stream filled with refuse of every kind, and 
exhaling a disgusting odour. This was the only drinking 
water in the place. The chief was an old man whose 
legs were paralyzed, and nothing but skin and bone : he 
had apparently not washed for years. I could get neither 
chickens nor goats, but he promised me some for the 
morrow. 

On that morrow occurred one of the usual disputes 
inseparable from travelling with porters. The day opened 
with fierce wind and a fine, ice-cold rain, in the midst of 
which I began to cut the calico to pay my men from 
Karonga— three yards apiece. When I had cut thirty 
pieces the headman and all the others disappeared, saying 
I was not cutting enough per man. Knowing their ways 
I took no notice. At this point there appeared most 
opportunely an ex-agent of the African Lakes Corporation 
with a numerous caravan. He allowed me to take twenty 
of his men. Others came in and I had soon enlisted 
seventy-six: these were to go only as far as Mwenzo, three 
or four days forward, after which I should have to get more. 
The next task was to call the roll, cut and distribute a 
yard of calico apiece as "posho" — that is to buy their 
food for the journey with — and distribute the loads. That 
done, my Karonga men thought better of it and turned 
up to be paid — three yards apiece to cut and distribute, 
still in the same freezing rain. Glad I was to be on the 
move again. We marched three hours that afternoon, and 
then halted at a village with the huts piled one on top 
of another as in the last one we had passed, and, if 
possible, even dirtier. 

Next day we halted at midday in an abandoned village 

and spent the night in another. I took advantage of the 

fact to study the typical hut of the Tanganika plateau, of 

which I here give a plan. All the villages are strongly 

290 



FROM NYASALAND TO UJIJI 

palisaded, and the gate is made of a tree trunk split in 
two and swinging from a cross pole passed through a hole 
on the upper part of the split trunk. All the villages and 
huts are alike, and so are all the people. They are as 
wild as animals, and take to flight at once at sisrht of the 



TANGANIKA HUT. 

A — Raised stand, for the cooking pots when they are not used. 

D — Fireplace, consisting of two pillars of clay a foot high, on which the pots 

are placed. The same arrangement, but smaller, is found outside, and 

cooking is done there when the weather is fine. 
Z — Stone embedded in the ground for grinding corn. 
X — Hole where the flour is collected when ground. 

white man. Men, women, and children look as if they 
had sedulously rolled in the mud and got covered all 
over with a thick coating of it. 

During these days I looked in vain for any trace of 
the famous Stevenson Road, of which I could discover 
no sign. Notwithstanding the cold rain, which was in- 
cessant, I took numerous observations, and I may remark 
291 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

here on the astounding patience required to go on making 
maps in Africa. Judging by the specimens I have seen, 
few travellers have so far given themselves much trouble 
in this line. To take hundreds of angles when you are 
dead beat and wet to the skin is most trying, but it is 
the only way to obtain serious results. If every traveller 
would take the trouble to do this we should soon have 
real maps, which at present we have not. I do not 
pretend that my own are perfect or near it, but at any 
rate they would serve as a more or less trustworthy basis, 
and could be easily connected. 

On May 8th I finished the first half of the journey, 
arriving at the village of Mwenzo at a quarter to two ; 
and at Fife, the station of the African Lakes Company, 
an hour and a half later. Fife is surrounded by a strong 
boma and an admirably -constructed fort. Here I was 
hospitably received by Mr. McCormick, of the African 
Lakes Co., and by Mr. Kidd, who happened to be there. 
Mr. McCormick told me that two small rivers which we 
passed before coming to Mwenzo unite with the 'Mkalesi 
about thirty miles from Fife to form the Tshambezi. 
This river is the actual source of the Congo. The 'Mkalesi 
runs through marshes which you can see from the station, 
and after receiving the two small streams forms a lake 
which the natives call the Nyanza ya 'Mkalesi. No 
European has ever visited it ; in that part of the 
country, which abounds with elephants, the natives 
are ill-disposed: it seems that Livingstone once passed 
through their country, and shortly after this their principal 
chief died — a clear case of witchcraft against the white 
man. 

There was the usual dearth of porters at Fife — but one 
dose of that story is enough for a chapter. I managed 
to get started on the afternoon of the 9th, and in order 
to reach the next village before dark I did five miles 
in an hour and a half, which is a fine performance for 
Africa. After two dull days of marshy walking I reached 
292 



I 



FROM NYASALAND TO UJIJI 

Mambwe, where I was laid up six days under the kind 
care of the fathers of the Mission d'Alger. 

As Mambwe is the most important place on the Tan- 
ganika plateau, I may here sum up what I was able to 
observe of the inhabitants of this part. Mwini Mambwe, 
the chief of Mambwe, is nominally lord of the whole 
country; but in reality the other chiefs — Fwambo, Kera, 
and Mpenza — are independent. 

On the death of a chief the succession is decided by 
the people of the village, and it is a mistake to suppose 
that his eldest son succeeds as a matter of course. For 
instance, the last chief of Fwambo was not succeeded by 
his eldest son ; his election was objected to by the women 
of the village, with whom he was unpopular. At Mpenza 
there was a kind of contested election between the son 
and the nephew of the late chief The son won after 
a prolonged dispute. Otherwise the government of this 
tribe presents no noteworthy features. 

Slavery is, of course, very common. The price of a 
man is four or five dotis (each of two yards of calico), 
and slavery for debt is enforced. 

These people have a vague sort of Supreme Being 
called Lesa, who has good and evil passions ; but here, 
as everywhere else, the Musimo, or spirits of the ancestors, 
are a leading feature in the beliefs. They are propitiated 
as elsewhere by placing little heaps of stones about their 
favourite haunts. At certain periods of the year the 
people make pilgrimages to the mountain of Fwambo- 
Liamba, on the summit of which is a sort of small altar 
of stones. There they deposit bits of wood, to which 
are attached scraps of calico, flowers, or beads : this is 
to propitiate Lesa. After harvest, for instance, they make 
such an offering. So, when a girl becomes marriageable, 
she takes food with her and goes up to the mountain 
for several days. When she returns the other women 
lead her in procession through the villages, waving long 
tufts of grass and palms. The girl may be already 
293 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

married, for many are wives before they are marriageable. 
A man pays for his wife about four or five dotis ; if the 
wife leaves him her father must make it good. Saving 
young men can pay for their wives by instalments; but 
the prudent father will not give delivery of the article 
until the whole price is paid up. An old man, a sort 
of godfather, conducts the girl to her husband ; whether 
the happy occasion is celebrated by a dance or not seems 
to be a matter of private discretion. After marriage a 
man makes a present to his wife — "to' appease her." A 
man of these parts may no more look upon his mother- 
in-law than may a Matabele. Here, as on the Zambezi, 
we iind a public brothel, " 'Nsaka," and prostitution as 
a profession exists, as Emin Pasha says it does in Unyoro. 
Nevertheless, adultery is rigorously punished ; the co- 
respondent has to pay the husband the equivalent of a 
gun. Other crimes are few, except the ever-present witch- 
craft. To bewitch an enemy on the Tanganika plateau 
you scatter a red powder round his hut, and a white one 
near his door ; this never fails to kill. Ordeal by muavi 
is, of course, flourishing, with the enlightened modifica- 
tion that if the accused does not die he can recover 
damages from his accuser. In the Mambwe district the 
muavi is made of a poisonous bean. Besides the ordeal, 
these people possess the vendetta, which applies even 
when one man kills another by accident. If he escapes, 
the dead man's next of kin slays his next of kin. No- 
where else have I found this custom. 

Funerals follow upon death with commendable prompti- 
tude. If a person dies too late to be buried the same day 
the ceremony takes place by night. The body is wound 
round in a piece of stuff which is slung on to a stout 
pole like a hammock, and carried several hundred yards 
from the village. It is buried in a recumbent attitude. 
At the grave they fire salutes, and there is the usual 
weeping and funeral feast. The most notable feature 
of the Tanganika etiquette is that none but men may 
294 



FROM NYASALAND TO UJIJI 

take part in the burial of a man, and none but women 
in that of a woman. In the latter case all the women 
who meet the procession pick up a handful of earth and 
throw it upon the body. On returning from the grave 
the nearest relative of the deceased walks with her head 
bowed down and her hands leaning on the shoulders of 
a woman who precedes her ; and for several days after- 
wards she walks thus whenever she goes abroad. 

Among these people, as elsewhere, the first night of the 
new moon is a public festival. About Tanganika it is 
celebrated by a dance in which the men alone take part. 
Girls and boys smear wet clay over the nose and round 
the eyes in order to avoid a rash very common in these 
parts. The people salute in true operatic style by bending 
the knee and laying the right hand on the heart. 

As the surface of the soil of this country is poor, they 
change the site of their gardens every year. About May 
they cut down the trees, and let them dry on the ground 
till near the time of the first rains, when they burn them 
for manure. To secure the best soil possible they dig 
great holes here and there, and spread the earth from 
them over the intermediate spaces. For beans they make 
heaps of earth, and sow on them. The fields are, as a 
rule, not more than a hundred yards across, and sur- 
rounded by strong palisades to keep out wild beasts. 
Sowing takes place at the first rains ; and they mix 
their various kinds of grain together. These are maize 
(kipambo), millet ('mkona), and eleusine (matesi). The 
harvest is in June. The castor oil plant grows wild, and 
they collect the oil to rub on their hair. They also 
cultivate the banana, and have a curious custom connected 
with it. No man is permitted to sow; but when the 
hole is prepared a little girl is carried to the spot on a 
boy's shoulders. She first throws into the hole a sherd 
of broken pottery, and then scatters the seed over it. 
The grains I have mentioned are ground on a stone. 
The Amambwe are very fond of caterpillars, which they 
295 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

preserve by drying, and then eat roasted. They make a 
kind of salt by burning a plant called musilia, and also 
from the leaves of the banana tree. 

The villages on the Tanganika plateau are usually built 
near a river, and almost invariably in the middle of stately 
forest trees. They are surrounded by a stout palisade 
four to five feet high, with earth banked up about the 
base; sometimes a ditch is dug outside this. The gates 




Granary. Hut 

VILLAGE OF FWAMBO, 

TANGANIKA PLATEAU. 

in this palisade are made of a split tree-trunk ; this pivots 
on two pieces of wood, and at night is fixed by a bar. 
Inside the stockade a pot is buried near the gate, where 
grain is placed for the Musimo. The huts themselves are 
round, low, and huddled one against the other. In any 
space between them are set up high and huge pillars of 
reeds, coated with earth and covered with a thatched roof 
These are granaries. The opening is reached by a pole 
notched to serve as a kind of ladder. The thatch of the 
huts projects so as to form a verandah, under which is 
the mill-stone. The inside is bare of anything except the 
296 



FROM NYASALAND TO UJIJI 



fireplace. As I have already said, all the villages are dirty 
beyond words. No sort of filth is ever carried outside the 
stockade ; everything accumulates for five or six years, 
at the end of which time, all the surrounding soil being 
exhausted, the village is usually deserted. As it is, I 
have known the fields as much as five miles from the 
village before it was thought worth while to leave it. 

The people of Mambwe are famous for their skill in 
.i working iron. It is very abundant in the neighbourhood, 
and the smiths — whose trade is hereditary — win and smelt 
the metal themselves ; their ^ 

furnaces are built of earth, 
with small openings all round 
the base. Having prepared 
a certain quantity of wood- 
charcoal they make a fire of 
it, put in the metal, and 
cover it with green wood ; 
the openings at the base are 
all stopped but one. Into 
this one is inserted a sort of 
bellows made of two goat 
skins. Towards the top of 
the furnace is an oblique 
opening through which the 
artificer can watch the pro- 
gress of the operation ; this 
lasts about three days, after 
which the holes 
are opened and 

the pig-iron (• 

runs out, and ' -*c, 

is left to cool. • ■ - 
This operation 
may only be N •"" .. 
commenced at ^"""''^''^ 

the new moon, mambwe woman and child. 

297 




THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

and is accompanied by the preparation of suitable " medi- 
cine." For forging they use heavy stones, wielded with 
both hands ; for the finer work, mallets. The articles 
made are arrow-heads, spear-heads, hatchets, and picks. 
They know nothing of tempering. 

The dress of these people is most primitive. Men and 
women alike wear a strip of calico or bark-cloth round the 
middle, and the children nothing at all. Few of them even 
possess beads, but all the women wear in their ears 
enormous sticks of wood (mantenga). In some villages 



■m^ zc^ 



■jj. 



NATIVE TEETH FROM NYASA. 
TANGANIKA PLATEAU. 



these "mantenga" project beyond the ear, and are 
decorated with bits of copper and steel. Others are 
like " men " in a game of draughts, but twice the size. 
Many women have their two lower incisors pulled out, and 
some both upper and lower, but these are mostly slaves 
from the North ; others file the teeth (see above). The 
men compete with these embellishments either by growing 
their hair long and braiding it, and smearing it with a 
red powder, or sometimes by making scars on their faces. 
The effect is equally hideous in all cases. 

War consists in surprises, and the attacking tribe select 
the women at work in the fields as their first objective. 
Their assegais and arrows they poison with a kind 
of resin. If they kill any enemies they stick up 



FROM NYASALAND TO UJIJI 

the heads on their paHsades. For hunting, nets, pits 
with sharp stakes, and snares are used. The nets are 
about a yard high and are spread over a space of two 
or three hundred yards. Some of the hunters drive in 
the game while others He in ambush to fall upon it before 
it can extricate itself But as a matter of fact game was 
very rare. It had been decimated by a strange disease 
(sotoka), which had especially played havoc with the 
larger antelopes, buffaloes, and even the elephants. This 
disease had destroyed all the cattle north of Lake Nyasa 
and all along the Tanganika plateau, and had also killed 
most of the goats and even the fowls. This sotoka, I after- 
wards discovered, was no other than the terrible rinderpest* 
It came from the north. Small-pox is very common on 
Lake Tanganika, but not widespread. Other diseases 
are dysentery, chest affections, and ophthalmia. But the 
worst scourge of this district is a kind of flea — pulex pene- 
trans— yN\\\c}i\ lurks in the sand, and lays its eggs under 
the human skin. Unless the bunch of eggs is removed 
it sets up inflammation, followed by gangrene and death. 
This pest was imported from America to the West Coast, 
and native indolence has made Africa a rich field for it. 
It spread from Angola up the Congo, and was brought 
to Tanganika by the Arabs. The son of Tippo Tip 
is especially singled out for the honour of its importation. 
It is found now as far south as Nyasaland. I brought 
three away with me from Mambwe to Fwambo, and 
they punished me most cruelly. 

The Tanganika people can only count up to seven, but 
they can reckon up to ten on their hands. For one they 
hold up one finger ; for two, the second and third fingers 
of the left hand ; for three, the same, and one finger of the 



* It was there that I first made my acquaintance with rinderpest, and 
I followed the whole of its march right up to Uganda. I was so impressed 
with it that I wrote to the Field describing all the symptoms (I did not know 
that it was rinderpest), but no one then attached much importance to the 
matter. (See, for rinderpest and jiggers, Appendix I.) 
299 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

right ; four is two fingers of each hand ; five, the closed fist 
with the thumb between the second and third fingers ; six, 
three fingers of each hand ; seven, the left hand open, and 
two fingers of the right ; eight, the eight fingers opened ; 
nine, I did not see, but I suppose one fist and an open 
hand ; ten, two closed fists. But they have no word to 
express a higher number than seven; eight they call 
seven plus one ; for multiples of ten they begin all over 
again. 

When I left Mambwe I was still ill, and, notwithstanding 
that, had to go through a killing day. I had reckoned to 
halt at the river Saisi — which we reached seven hours 
from our start — to build a bridge. Finding one already 
there I went on, and as there was no wood for fire was 
obliged to push right on to Kirunda, which we did not 
reach till four hours later. Just before getting to the 
village we had to cross the river Lumi. Night had 
fallen, and we had long been wading up to our knees in 
a swamp. The river was very full and very deep, and to 
cross it there were only a few rotten trees felled across 
the stream. By a miracle we got safely over in the dark 
without losing a man ; as it was, a goat fell in and was 
drowned, and one man went over too ; but he clutched 
hold of the so-called bridge, and was got out with the 
loss of his load of 200 yards of calico. All this time I 
was standing on the bank with mud up to my thighs, 
and gnats feasting on my face and neck. There were 
thousands and thousands of them, and they stabbed 
through handkerchiefs and mufflers like the point of a 
needle. Never had I suffered such torment. Next day 
I got to Fwambo, where I was kindly received by the 
missionaries, Messrs. Carson and Brett ; with them I 
stayed two days, and on May 22nd arrived at Kituta, 
on Lake Tanganika, too ill to take any observation or 
notice anything on the way. 

At Kituta I found two Arabs with their dhows, and 
induced them, after the usual haggling, to take me to 
300 



FROM NYASALAND TO UJIJI 

Ujiji with my men and goods, for 300 rupees. We 
started on May 26th, and the voyage was horribly 
trying. Sometimes we could land for the night or for 
a meal, but often we had to go for thirty-six hours at 
a stretch so as to avoid the hostile natives. It was not 
possible to get regular food or sleep, still less to write 
or take observations. Wherever we landed the natives 
took to flight, but returned when they saw that a white 
man was of the party. One whole day we spent 
ashore in mending a broken rope. This was Africa all 
over : one loses all count of time, and forgets its value. 
Everything is to be done " to-morrow." I myself put off 
making up my journal from day to day. The lassitude 
and fever made me eager for the end of my journey, but 
incapable of doing anything to get forward ; yet the 
lassitude did not shut out the perpetual anxiety and 
uncertainty of the morrow. I felt myself growing very 
old. 

Lake Tanganika differs greatly in appearance from 
Lake Nyasa. Its shores consist of rocky hills of huge 
boulders piled one on the top of the other, those that 
are bathed by the lake being perfectly white. The water 
is not blue like that of Nyasa. While the latter is often 
covered with large waves, a wind equally strong leaves 
Tanganika comparatively calm. For all that we had 
several days of rough weather, and touched ground once 
at some risk of breaking up. We also picked up a party 
of Arabs of Ujiji, who had been shipwrecked. At last, at 
ten in the morning of the fourth of June, in a level down- 
pour, more dead than alive, I arrived off Ujiji. 

Ujiji lies at the extremity of a small open bay ; the 
town itself is built on rising ground. What most strikes 
one as one approaches is the aridity of the surround- 
ings—evidently all the wood has been used up long ago. 
Gradually, on drawing nearer the coast, the town comes 
into view : lines of dull red walls topped by flat roofs. 
At last we reached land, where a good-sized crowd of 
303 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

Arabs had assembled to meet us — an arrival being always 
an event. The men unshipped the sail, and then set 
to work to land the cargo. Having seen all my baggage 
ashore and covered up I set off with my Arabs for the 
town, which is about half a mile distant from the shore. 
Traversing a swamp we reached the first native huts. 
Then we came to a dilapidated wall of sun-burnt bricks, 
and passed through a gate into the market-place. 
A little further on we stopped before a large house. A 
numerous company of Arabs under the outer verandah 
greeted me with cries of "Yambo" 

,. - (Hail !). I was led into a very 

f '^- .^ clean chamber, wherein was a bed 

covered with a counterpane; and 
^ the Arabs, having received my 

letter for Rumaliza, retired. Soon 
after they brought me a cup of 
tea and some biscuits, of which 
I stood in great need. Men were 
sent for my baggage, which was 
set out in another room, and then 



?k 



% 



I flung myself on the bed ex- 
/"^ ' hausted. In a few minutes a 

rumaliza's cook. servant appeared with a dinner 

of pilaf and currie. I managed to 
eat a little, but was obliged to lie down again without the 
energy to wash or change. All day long came an end- 
less procession of Arabs to visit me. I had to receive 
them and to put a good face on it, but I felt more fit 
to lie down and die. What struck me greatly was the 
confidence they all appeared to have in Mr. Swann, and 
their friendship for him. In the afternoon came one of 
the servants of Rumaliza. " Vous etes francais. Monsieur," 
he began in excellent French. I was stupefied ; but he 
explained that he had been brought up by the missionaries 
of Bagamoyo — the Peres du St. Esprit — and had spent a 
year in France in 1870. A little later Rumaliza himself 
304 



FROM NYASALAND TO UJIJI 

appeared, accompanied by several Arabs. Clothed in 
white from head to foot, he was rather above the middle 
height, and of a very fine physiognomy, although his beard 
was very straggling, and his face pitted with small-pox. 
He continually scratched his head. He told me to con- 
sider myself in my own house, to ask for everything I 
desired — in a word, he offered me Arab hospitality. No 
monarch could have been more lavish or more dignified. 
Next day I had to hold another levee, to which came 
many Arabs of distinction ; among them, Musaba-ben- 
Luari, the former " Wali " (viceroy) of Ujiji — toothless 
and very dirty. 

The first night I had slept a little from sheer exhaus- 
tion. This next was terrible. I vomited incessantly ; I 
was chilled to the bone, and could not warm myself I 
suffered horrible pain in the head and throughout my 
whole body. Next day, of course, I was a wreck. They 
told me I had been delirious half the night. I remember 
nothing of the day ; but next night I got a couple of 
hours' sleep, and was rather better in consequence. But 
vomiting went on steadily, and the fourth night I was 
again delirious. The next day I was as bad as ever ; but 
thanks to a good dose of Beecham's Pills I had an 
excellent night, and I truly believe that they saved my 
life. I was still very weak, having eaten hardly any- 
thing (and that very temporarily) since arriving at Ujiji. 
I went out, but could neither keep on my legs nor get up 
to my room again without aid. The sixth night also I 
slept ; and next day got as far as looking in the glass — to 
find myself appallingly thin. The day after I took my 
first real meal, but was still unable to write or do 
anything else continuous. Such is the simple story of 
my first week in Ujiji. I knew well where I picked up 
this fever — in the marshes of Mwenzo, and near Kituta — 
and the killing thing was being unable to stop to cure 
it ; the ten days on the lake especially, often without 
food for twenty-four hours, nearly finished me. I felt 
X 305 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 



certain at the time that I was done for; and I very 

nearly was. 

The Arabs of Ujiji are all people of position. Their 

spotless white garments and dignified walk form the 
liveliest contrast to the squalor 
and timidity of the indigenous 
population ; their servants, how- 
ever, are distinguished by their 
insolence and rudeness. Their 
wives are the most elegant women 
of Africa. Several times at the 
fashionable promenade in the 
market-place I observed them in 
their glory. They are mostly 

JManyema women, generally 
slaves taken very young. 




llJM 



Their colour is a dusky yel- 
low ; they wear one ivory 
A WOMAN OF FASHION. or silver button in the left 

nostril, and five in each ear ; 
the cheek is decorated with half a dozen bluish marks 
like ink stains, which are made with fruit juice. Some 
of them paint under the eyes. Their head-dress is also 
remarkably ambitious for Africa. They divide the hair 
into some dozen tresses, and plait it together between 
each two partings ; the end of each plait is turned up 
and hidden in the plait itself A ribbon of coloured 
cotton passes over the crown of the head and under 
the chin ; from the crown a long strip of stuff hangs 
down below the knees like a Chinese pig-tail. Some- 
times pieces of metal are fastened to the top of this 
adornment. But the head-dress of any one woman 
has a way of varying from day to day. Some cover 
the head with a coloured kerchief folded something 
like a Spanish mantilla ; others wear a kerchief simply 
folded in four. The dress of the women is similarly 
elaborate. Round the body they wind some three yards 
306 



FROM NYASALAND TO UJIJI 

of coloured stuff, which is fastened above the breast, and 
hangs straight down to the ankles ; round their shoulders 
is a rather shorter piece of coloured stuff, whose end is 
thrown over the left shoulder like a Venetian mantle. The 
richest bedeck themselves with collars of coral, inter- 
spersed with large silver beads, and bracelets of silver and 
glass beads alternating. In full dress they, wear silk 
trousers, with heavy silver anklets, which come from 
Zanzibar. They walk barefoot, not without a certain 
grace, and are heavily perfumed with musk. Nobody v/ill 
be surprised to hear that these magnificent beauties are 
very vain. They can make eyes at the passer-by against 
any women in the world, and dearly love to have their 
portraits taken ; the nuisance is that the enquiring 
traveller has always to take two — one for himself, and one 
for the lady. I will add, in justice, that these are the only 
clean women in Africa. They generally promenade in 
pairs, followed by one or two female slaves. 

The indigenous population are the Wajiji. Their 
slaves — the slaves of the slaves — are the most miserable 
specimens of humanity I ever saw anywhere. Thin, 
haggard, starveling, clothed, men and women alike, 
with a miserable shred of cloth, they are most painful 
even to look at. One day I saw before an Arab's house 
two men and women with a baby, all chained together by 
the neck and wrists ; they were nothing but skin and 
bone, and you could read a long series of sufferings in 
their faces. On enquiry I found that they were murderers 
awaiting their trial. Slavery is certainly horrible enough, 
but there are two sides to the question none the less. 
In any case it is not by force that it will be suppressed, 
but by the introduction of commerce. Bring in railways, 
and slavery will go out. The policy of the Belgians is 
exactly the opposite : they drive out legitimate commerce, 
and inevitably force the Arabs into the slave trade. 
They have ruined the ivory trade by impossible duties : 
the Arabs have to pay one tusk out of every five. This 
307 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

is the Congo Free State, whose freedom is all sham and 
humbug. So far as Africa is concerned I have no faith 
left in philanthropists, or missionaries, or foreign Govern- 
ments. I pity the dupes who give their money in Europe 
to anti-slavery societies and missions. Much better employ 
the money to find capital for railways and banks. It is 
very possible that these also may bring in no return, but 
the result will be there ; philanthropy will have attained 
it, and European commerce will have profited thereby. 

As for the Congo State, I heard a characteristic story 
of its methods at Ujiji. No doubt there are two sides 
to it, as to others ; but it is sufficiently borne out by what 
I heard later from German officers, and again lately by 
the lawless action of Lothaire, which remains unpunished. 
There came to me one day an Arab, named Nassor-ben- 
Suliman-ben-Juma, who was brother to the well-known 
Tippo Tip. He wanted me to write a letter to the 
Belgian Consul at Zanzibar, to complain of the treat- 
ment he had received from Captain Jacques, a Congo 
State officer. Nassor-ben-Suliman, it appeared, had been 
sent by Tippo Tip from Zanzibar to conduct a Belgian — 
M. Mariam was his name, as far as I could make it out 
— to Kasongo, and there to furnish him with a thousand 
soldiers. Before M. Mariam reached Ujiji he received 
orders from Captain Jacques not to visit Rumaliza in 
that town, and the caravan took the direction of Karema. 
There they found Captain Jacques and crossed the lake 
to go to 'Mtowa. At Karema Captain Jacques met the 
Arabs on friendly terms. On reaching the other side 
of the lake they heard that there was war in Kasongo, 
the representative of Tippo having revolted. It was 
decided, therefore, that M. Mariam should remain at 
'Mtowa, and when the caravan arrived there Nassor-ben- 
Suliman asked to be paid. M. Mariam said he would 
see to that later. Captain Jacques added that, Rumaliza 
being at war with him, he should keep Nassor-ben- 
Suliman's merchandise, and therewith had it taken into 
308 



FROM NYASALAND TO UJIJI 

his own hut. These goods consisted of two packages 
of powder, two of calico, and various other stuffs. More- 
over, Jacques declared that he would keep as hostages 
three of the Arab's followers — Mahmud, an Arab of 
Zanzibar, and a man of Bagamoyo with his wife. Nassor- 
ben-Suliman protested, but Jacques ordered him to be 
silent. If he wanted his people and his goods back, 
added the Belgian, he had only to go to Rumaliza and 
ask him to make peace ; when the war was over he 
should have them back. This was six months before 
my arrival. Since then he had written four times to 
Jacques to claim his servants and merchandise, and had 
received no reply. Now he desired to get them back by 
addressing the Belgian Government through the Consul 
at Zanzibar, being himself a subject of the Sultan's. 
Whether he ever got them I do not know. From the 
record of the Congo State I should say most likely not. 
This story is only one of hundreds I have heard ; with 
such principles is it wonderful that the Free State is not 
a success ? 

I promised not to inflict the account of any more diffi- 
culties about porters on the reader, so I will pass lightly 
over the awful struggle I had with Rumaliza on this point. 
Rumaliza's hospitality was magnificent, but it was to 
him no hindrance to making all the money possible oiit 
of his guest. He led off by offering me seventy-five 
men to Muanza, on the Victoria Nyanza, for forty piastres 
per man, or a grand total of ;^300. Working out the 
scale of prices at Zanziba.r, where Indian contractors 
make handsome profits, I found that at the same rate ten 
piastres per man was a liberal price. When I proposed 
this price, or half as much to go to Urambo, which is 
only two-thirds of the distance from Karonga to Kituta, 
Rumaliza only laughed. He compromised things in 
the African fashion by putting it off till " to-morrow." 
To-morrow, again in true African fashion, ran into the 
next day and the next and the next. At the end of six 
309 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

days we came to a sufficiently extortionate arrangement, 
by which I was to' take thirty- five men to Urambo at 
sixteen piastres per man — total £^0, which was the 
outside of what I could afford, and at least twice as 
much as I ought to have paid. But I was in his power 
and had to submit. 

I tried to buy a donkey, and was asked 530 rupees 
(^13) for the only decent animal in the place; finally I 
paid 240 for an evil beast worth thirty shillings. 




THE MARKET-PLACE, UJIJI. 

But after all, Arabs, as I found, were not the only ones 
who took advantage of one's position in Africa, and 
although they tried to make the best bargain they could, 
their confidence in the white man was quite remarkable. 
Of course I had no money at hand to pay Rumaliza with, 
and when I informed him that I could only give him 
drafts on Zanzibar, he made no difficulty whatever in 
accepting them : his confidence was the more striking as 
he could not read English, and had to take my word that 
the amount was correctly stated. 
310 



FROM NYASALAND TO UJIJI 

I was rather anxious to start without delay, as I had 
still a considerable portion of my journey to accomplish, 
and besides the sanitary conditions of Ujiji were such that 
I did not wish to remain there longer than necessary. 
In each house is a cesspool, and close by a well from 
which the drinking water is drawn, so that it is no wonder 
that a kind of yellow fever indigenous to the place should 
affect so many people. Moreover, my room, though clean 
to the eye, was a hot-bed of vermin. For all these 
reasons, by June 20th, on which day I concluded my 
bargain with Rumaliza, I was more than ready to turn 
my back on the luxuries of Ujiji and be off. I discovered, 
some time after leaving the place, that I had, without 
knowing it, been partaking of human flesh two or three 
times during my stay there. Rinderpest had destroyed 
all the cattle and most of the goats, so that the few that 
were brought over from the other side of the lake were 
sold at a comparatively exorbitant price, ten yards of 
calico being asked for each. Young slaves, on the other 
hand, used to fetch only from four to six yards of calico ; 
and as a considerable portion of the population consisted 
of Manyema cannibals, children used often to be slaughtered 
and their meat retailed among the Manyema. Some of 
the natives whom I had engaged at Ujiji had been assured 
by David that nothing could be hidden from me, and they 
determined to test my power ; they accordingly supplied 
my cook with human flesh to see if I would find it out, 
and I confess that I ate it with great relish, unconscious 
of what it was. David found this out afterwards, but 
was afraid to tell me about it ; however, to avoid a 
repetition of the experiment, he only bought meat from 
goats he saw killed himself It was only afterwards that 
he told me about it. I then remembered eating a curry 
I thought excellent, and having brought to me some 
grilled bones that I enjoyed so much that I asked several 
times for more of them, but without being able to get 
them : these, it appears, were human ribs. So far as I can 
311 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

recollect they had but very little flesh on them, but this 
had a fine flavour of venison with a salty taste, one of the 
reasons why cannibals greatly relish human flesh. I may 
add that cannibals seldom eat this meat without having 
kept it for a few days ; usually they bury it, and when it 
is a point they feast on it. A great deal of unsuspected 
cannibalism still exists in Africa ; for instance, in Nyasa- 
land in many cases the dead are secretly unburied and 
eaten up. This practice is, however, strongly condemned 
by local public opinion, and whenever those who have 
,been guilty of it are discovered they are condemned to be 
burned alive. 

But to return to my journey. I gave myself a month to 
reach Urambo, another to Uganda, a month's stay there, 
and then three more to the coast. At that rate I should 
sail for Europe early in 1894. At the time my hope was 
to find the late Sir Gerald Portal in Uganda and return 
with him. But that was not to be. 



312 



^ TABORA TO MWANZA 




Bote Jftoii/ iXufiaga^ are. -nwjclv Hcrtker to Hue, North tharv sTwum^lLere. 

Published by Methuen S Co., London. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

FROM UJIJI TO URAMBO. 

AT last, on the 27th June, I left Ujiji. With flag flying 
and drums beating we passed through Kasimbo, the 
name of the portion of Ujiji on the hill, where dwelt old 
Msaba-bin-ben-Luali, the oldest inhabitant of Ujiji, who 
was there when Burton and Speke visited the lake, and 
who had known Livingstone, Stanley, and all the great 
pioneers of Africa. He expressed his delight at some 
medicine I had given him for his eyes — a zinc lotion — 
and asked me for more ; and after partaking of a cup of 
coffee I gave a last look towards Ujiji and started in 
earnest. Large numbers of natives accompanied me a 
few hundred yards farther and left me, firing guns as a 
wish of good speed. It being late in the day I only went 
as far as Maekere, a village two miles from Ujiji. The chief 
presented me with a fowl and a large basket of potatoes, 
and gave me a good tembe — rather clean for a wonder — 
for myself and my goods. Next morning I awoke minus 
sundry bits of flesh on which the cockroaches had been 
having a grand feed. I ordered the drums to be beaten 
and called out the roll of my men. The nyampara (head- 
man) and five porters were missing. I sent out for them 
and proceeded to examine the village. In front of each 
house stood huge piles of sweet potatoes cut in slices and 
put out to dry. These are used to make pombe (native 
beer). A market is also held here, and trade must be 
pretty brisk, as I noticed ten shoulders of goat exposed 
for sale, the price of each being one fundo (six strings) of 
313 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

beads. Blue and white beads resembling the cut stem of 
a clay pipe are used as currency in Ujiji and all over that 
portion of Africa. These beads are not used as ornaments. 
The houses are square, and consist of two square rooms 
without windows ; outside grinding-stones are laid into the 
ground. Rats, crickets, and cockroaches run about the 
place, and jiggers are found in great numbers. 

At last Njumba Serere, my headman, appeared, as drunk 
as could be. I told him to go and look out for the missing 
men. With much dignity he brought me three men who 



UJIJI FROM KASIMBO. 

had already answered to the call. I gave him the names 
of the missing men, but he brought me four other men 
who had also answered the call ; so in order to bring him 
to his senses I ordered David to give him six lashes of the 
whip, and half an hour later he returned, much sobered, 
with the missing men. I found that these men had been 
put in chains the previous evening by Rumaliza's orders, 
the rascals having engaged themselves to an Arab, and 
received an advance from him after having been already 
paid to accompany me. They had just been released 
after receiving a couple of dozen of well - deserved 
lashes. 

Just as I was about to leave a little Manyema girl of 
314 



FROM UJIJI TO URAMBO 

ten rushed among my men. One of the chief's men came 
to claim her as an escaped slave, and having found the 
child to be well fed and well clothed I returned her to her 
master. Our way lay across an undulating plain at the 
foot of a circus of mountains. We marched through long 
grass, among which rose a good many wild date trees. 
Not a single other tree was to be seen, all had been cut 
down for fuel ; no care had been taken to plant others to 
replace those that were cut, so that the whole place 
presented the most desolate appearance. In four hours' 
march we reached a picturesque spot at the foot of the 
hills, and we camped for the night near the Kasike river. 
In the evening some Wangwana came to me and asked 
me to allow them to travel under my escort, a permission 
I readily granted them. 

Soon after leaving camp the next morning we 
climbed the hills north of Ujiji, getting a splendid 
view of Lake Tanganika from their top ; it was from 
this place that Mr. Stanley first caught sight of the 
lake, and I could picture his feelings when he stood 
there after all the dangers, all the difficulties he had 
conquered ; how proud he must have felt, and at the 
same time how anxious he must have been to rush 
down to Ujiji, and to find whether Livingstone was there! 
What a small, humble traveller I felt in comparison with 
Stanley ; every inch of the ground he covered meant a 
new discovery ; he had to contend with man, beasts, and 
nature. But nothing had stopped him ; and where I then 
stood he could proudly exclaim, " I have succeeded." 

Ahead of us stretched what looked like an undulating 
and well-wooded plain. We began the descent, and one 
hour later we reached the Luiki river, a stream as pure 
as crystal, about forty yards broad and three feet deep. 
We crossed it, and after following its banks for half an 
hour halted for food. Just before arriving there I had 
remained behind the caravan with David, my servant, to 
take some observations, and I was hurrying on to pick up 
315 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

my men when I found ahead of me the tail of another 
caravan. Behind walked some Wangwana (coast men), 
then came some Wanyamwezi porters carrying ivory. I 
next found two little slave girls tied together by a rope 
fastened round their necks. I caught hold of the cord to 
cut it, but the little girls seized it in their hands, screaming 
at the top of their voices. I held on tight, but when I 
got out my knife to cut the cord they literally went off 
their heads with fright, persuaded that I was going to kill 
them. I had got to the end of this little incident when a 
villainous looking one-eyed Wangwana came running up 
with a gun in his hand. I drew my revolver, when he 
immediately became as quiet as a lamb. " I am not the 
chief," he tremblingly ejaculated. "Where is he?" . I 
asked ; and he pointed towards a seething crowd higher 
up the road where ropes were being hastily undone. The 
caravan consisted of about fifty slaves, with as many 
porters carrying splendid tusks of ivory ; only five of the 
men were armed. My first impulse was to set the slaves 
free and to take possession of the ivory, in order to hand 
it over to the official in charge of the Tabora Station ; but 
I determined not to do so, as I was too near Ujiji ; the 
caravan belonged to Arabs, and I had only three men 
on whom I could rely. Under these circumstances I de- 
termined to have recourse to diplomacy. I made the three 
headmen come to the spot where my caravan had halted, 
and I informed them that I was not at all satisfied — that 
they had sought me out the day before, asking leave to 
accompany me because they had only a small caravan of 
ivory ; that they had not said that they possessed any 
slaves ; and that they knew perfectly well that white men 
did not allow the traffic in slaves. However, I said, that 
had nothing to do with me, and all I insisted upon was 
that they should not tie up the children. We parted 
very good friends, but, afraid that I might get them 
arrested when I should reach Tabora, they took another 
road, and I saw no more of them. 
3i6 



FROM UJIJI TO URAMBO 

My headman wanted me to sleep at the place where the 
men had halted, but it was still early and I determined to 
push further on. The country we now crossed, although 
it looked a plain from the top of the hills, was very hilly, 
and right in front of us rose the Unyonga Mountains, 
towards which we directed our steps. For two hours we 
went up and down over wooded hills, then once more over 
an immense, arid, undulating plain. We got near the 
Unyonga Mountains, arid and uninteresting. As for a 
tree, such a thing was now not to be seen ; no matter in 
which direction I looked I could see nothing but brown 
dried-up grass. Just before getting to a village, however, 
one or two trees did actually appear. These were solitary 
baobabs rising on the side of a hill which was absolutely 
barren, and only covered with dried-up grass. At five 
o'clock we halted a short distance from the village of 
Unyonga. The villagers came to sell us potatoes and 
cassawa flour. These people were dressed differently 
from what I had seen so far. The men's costume con- 
sisted of an animal's skin, from which the hair had been 
removed. This was simply attached by two of the animal's 
legs, and a strap passing over the right shoulder. Some 
of the women had enormous copper bracelets. They 
were dressed in a piece of calico, tied round the breasts 
and hanging down to the knees. As I was told that these 
people frequently take advantage of the night to rob, 
I placed three sentinels round the camp. 

The 30th of June was a most tiring day over moun- 
tainous ground. We first climbed a spur of the mountains 
that rose in front of us, then shortly after we crossed the 
river Muserere, and followed the valley in which it flows. 
At the entrance of this valley, to my great surprise, I per- 
ceived right in the middle of our road a large group of 
about fifty natives. Getting a little nearer I discovered 
that a market was held there, salted meat, potatoes, millet, 
and so on being exposed for sale. Some bananas were as 
much as nine inches in length. We were in a little valley 
317 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

as bare as the country we had crossed the previous day ; 
here and there, quite close to the river, a tree or two 
appeared, but, Hke most trees in Africa, they afforded 
neither shadow nor shelter. The valley is well populated, 
but properly speaking there are no villages — only groups 
of two or three huts built in the shape of a beehive, 
and even these groups very scattered ; close to them grew 
some fine banana plantations. The further we proceeded 
the better I was able to note the remarkable spirit of 
industry that the population of this district displays, and 
all, so to say, " off their own bat," for these people had 
never come into contact with white men. P"or the first 
time in savage Africa I found • artificial irrigation. We 
passed many artificial beehives, placed in the trees ; they 
consist of a round basket entirely closed except for a little 
hole; this basket is surrounded by reeds and placed on the 
tree. From the immense quantity of copper bracelets 
that I saw, I concluded that this metal was to be found 
in the country, but I could find no confirmation of this 
surmise. Men and women wear little charms of ivory 
prettily carved, which they use to hold their medicine. 
I saw one man wearing round his neck a curved hippo- 
potamus' tusk, ground down to the thickness of a big 
paper-knife and admirably polished. They make a kind 
of bark-cloth, very superior to anything I had previously 
seen ; this is usually dyed grey instead of red as in all 
other parts of Africa. Their arms consist of assegais, like 
the Matabele's, fixed together with animals' tendons ; they 
also use arrows with feathers. The bow has one of its 
extremities filed to a point, evidently for the purpose of 
serving as a weapon of defence in case of need. The 
men are big and well made, but very timid and not 
easily approached. 

I came across an old chap who asked if I would like 

to buy a goat and a little girl. He wanted 80 yards 

of calico for the pair. He was much astonished to hear 

that the white men did not permit the traffic in human 

318 



FROM UJIJI TO URAMBO 

flesh. That morning old Njumba Serere, my headman, 
complained to David that one of his little slaves had 
escaped during the night because I refused to allow him 
to tie them by the neck. I discovered also that two of 
my Wangwana had each half a dozen Manyema slaves 
whom they had brought away to sell. They were children 
of ten or twelve years old ; their condition was simply 
terrible — I have never seen such living skeletons. These 
poor wretches had only four to five potatoes a day to 
eat, and most of the time they ate these raw. What 
could I do? Nothing but shut my eyes and be silent. 

Arrived at the top of the valley where the river 
Muserere springs, after an almost perpendicular climb, 
we began to descend into another valley. In it appeared 
many huts and banana plantations. This valley was 
almost as desolate-looking as the previous one ; far apart 
from one another a few single trees stood up as if they 
had been planted there for their sins. In the distance 
we could see an immense plain. After having crossed a 
small river we climbed the spur of a mountain. Number- 
less little rivers take their origin there among marshes. 
All of a sudden we came upon a big camp of twenty or 
twenty-five tents, in the middle of which the German flag 
was flying. It was an Arab caravan, or rather the first 
section of it, on the way to Ujiji ; the other portion, with 
the " great master," was following. They had taken two 
months to come from Urambo ! 

Next morning, just as we were about to start, the 
main body of the caravan, with about 500 porters, passed 
near us. Two Arabs were in charge ; they said they were 
going to Ujiji, and that their master would follow later on. 
They seemed to have had much trouble during the pre- 
ceding days on account of the prairie fires — they had had 
three men burnt to death. They strongly advised me to 
avoid the Uvinza country, where they had found no water, 
and recommended me to pass through Uhha. How I was 
to regret following this advice will soon be seen. The 
319 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

road was absolutely uninteresting, passing through big 
arid plains covered with high grass. At one o'clock we 
got to a little forest : one of the women dropped to the 
ground, declaring that she could go no further. I left her 
in charge of another woman and an Arab : later in the 
evening she walked into camp carrying a newly -born 
baby, and looking very little the worse for it. One of 
the little slaves, a small chap of about ten years, all skin 
and bone, was also done up. He complained of pains 
in the back and legs. I took pity on him, and hoisted 
him on to my donkey. At last, about 1.30, we arrived 
near the river Mariba, where we pitched camp. In the 
afternoon two panthers came and howled quite close to 
us. Four times I went for them, but could never get on 
their track. I was much annoyed to discover that the boy 
I had placed on my donkey was suffering from small-pox, 
and I much feared that it might break out among my 
caravan. 

Next morning I woke about 5.30 thoroughly frozen, 
the thermometer having fallen to 52° F. Just as we were 
about to start I was told that the little slave who had 
small-pox had died. I was assured that he had been 
buried, but perhaps the two panthers had a meal after 
all. These two brutes returned to the camp during the 
night, and howled all the time till dawn. I was 
afraid that they would get my donkey, so twice I got 
up and went out, but I never got a glimpse of them. 
Two hours after our start we got out of the forest, 
and again began to cross one of those arid plains 
covered with high dried-up grass. Half an hour later 
Njumba Serere wished to stop. I got a little bit angry, 
and forced the men to go on for another hour. I stopped 
for lunch, but was so implored to pass the night there that 
I yielded. The heat was something awful, 109° F. in the 
sun ; that is to say, fifty-seven degrees' difference since the 
morning. The country that we had crossed for the last 
two hours was well populated ; huts of the same shape as 
320 



FROM UJIJI TO URAMBO 

before, same costume, same bracelets, hair cut in the same 
fashion, and the huts again in groups of three and four 
together, three or four hundred yards apart. When our 
camp was pitched, a number of the inhabitants of the 
villages came and brought us potatoes, flour, wood, and 
monkey nuts. A "lupanda" (two yards of calico) was 
the price asked for four pounds of flour. Firewood had 
to be purchased at a high price, as none was to be found 
about the place. Beads are little cared for. In the evening 
I perceived one of my Arabs with five goats. " From 
information received " I knew he had bought them with a 
little slave. 

I have forgotten to describe the manner in which every 
day we used to pitch our camp. I think it sufficiently 
interesting to merit a mention. The men commenced by 
cutting down the grass from a fairly large piece of ground. 
In the centre the ground was levelled, and on this my tent 
was pitched. In front of my tent the loads were piled in 
heaps ; then all round in groups of four or five the men 
made for themselves little conical huts, the framework of 
which they used to cover with long grass. Around the 
camp a " boma " enclosure was erected. My caravan, 
including the women of the Wangwana and their slaves, 
amounted to about lOO individuals — a very small caravan 
indeed. Nevertheless it is a pleasure to look back and 
remember that I was obeyed to the letter. My Wangwana 
soon learnt that they had to obey as well as the others. 
Of course I had to commence by using "kiboko";* but 
after a short time this was unnecessary, and I had only to 
give an order for it to be obeyed at once. 

We were now in Uhha, the country of the Wahha. No 
white men had so far crossed their country. When 
Stanley went in search of Livingstone he tried to cross 
the southern extremity of Uhha, but was compelled to 
turn back so as to avoid the extortionate demands made 
upon him by the chiefs. Since then all the travellers 
* Rhinoceros-hide whip. 
Y 321 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

going to or coming from Ujiji have followed the road 
through Uvinza. 

On the 2nd of July, after passing a good many groups 
of huts, I pitched camp among long grass near a small 
river. The natives appeared friendly and brought us 
food and goats for sale. Many of them also came out 
of curiosity to see a white man — a species of animal they 
had never seen before. The women and children were 
most shy, and would not allow me to come near them, 
running away when I approached within a dozen yards. 
There were but few trees near the place, so that I could 
not get a " boma " built round my camp. 

At 3 a.m. I was awakened by shots followed by piercing 
screams. As I jumped out of bed, gun in hand, several of 
the women and many of the children of my caravan 
rushed into my tent uttering deafening shrieks. I darted 
out and found all my men firing at random in the dark. 
I first stopped them and enquired what was the cause 
of this commotion. It appeared that some natives had 
broken into the camp, fired shots, and taken advantage 
of the confusion to steal a large number of things. I 
called the two sentries and asked them to give me their 
account of the affair. They came forward unarmed, and 
when I told them to go and get their guns they hesitated, 
and then confessed that they had gone to sleep, and that 
their guns had been taken from them, They slept so 
soundly that the thieves had actually taken the guns 
from under their heads without their noticing it. 
Promising to deal with them in the morning, I went 
through the camp to see if anyone was wounded ; while 
I did so I heard a rustle in the grass, soon followed by 
a shot. I ordered my men to fire a volley in that 
direction. I heard a scream, but the fellow, who had 
evidently been winged, had already escaped when I sent 
men to fetch him. Having placed fresh sentries, with 
the promise of one hundred lashes if they went to sleep, 
I retired to bed. 



FROM UJIJI TO URAMBO 

In the morning I made an inventory of the goods that 
had been stolen : two rifles, my mackintosh, the waterproof 
cover of my bedding, my coffee filter, a teapot, axes, and 
many other things had been taken away by the thieves. 
To allow this to pass unpunished was to expose myself 
to be killed with all my caravan the following night, as 
natives will only respect your life if they think that you 
do not fear them. I therefore sent for the chief of the 
next village, and he soon came accompanied by two 
followers. The moment they appeared they were seized 
by my men and securely handcuffed and chained up. 
Then I represented to the chief Umteko the hideous- 
ness of his conduct in attacking travellers who passed 
through his country paying for all they had and respecting 
the people's property. He replied that the thieves were 
very bad people, but that he knew nothing about them. 
This, I pointed out to him, was a lie, as the attack had 
not been made by a single individual but by an armed 
band, who would not have acted without his knowledge. 
I then informed him of my decision : he would have to 
send back to the village one of the two men I had 
captured with him to warn the people that, unless all 
the things that had been stolen were returned to me by 
noon, I would hang him to a tree I pointed out to him. 
He again protested his innocence, and offered to take 
" Muavi " (to undergo the trial by poison). I declined 
to listen to anything, and, unfettering one of his two 
followers, told him to go and take my words to the 
people of the village. Soon after a band of about 
200 men, armed with spears, bows and arrows, appeared 
on the other side of the river and halted within 200 
yards of it. The pluckiest of them came forward and 
shouted to me to come to the side of the water with not 
more than two men. I did so, and through my inter- 
preter asked the herald to come on my side of the river 
to talk over matters, but this he absolutely declined to 
do. So the negotiations were howled across the stream. 
323 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

I repeated the message I had already sent to the village, 
to the effect that I would hang the chief by noon unless 
my stolen property was restored by that time. The 
herald, having carried this message to the warriors, 
returned. None of the people, he said, knew about the 
attack made against my camp ; but if I liked to stop 
there till the following day they would send for the 
two principal chiefs of the district, Kisa and Niao Nalozi, 
who would make enquiries and get back my things. 

" Where is their village ? " I said. 

They pointed to a couple of villages two or three 
miles distant. I replied that white men did not know 
what to-morrow meant ; the chiefs did not live far away, 
so if they chose they might go there, but in the meantime 
at noon I would fulfil my threat. Once more the herald 
returned to the main body of warriors, and returned to say 
that they were going to make enquiries. 

One hour later all of them came back, observing the 
same precautions as before, and the heralds appeared near 
the river. They had, they began, made enquiries, but 
in vain. Evidently the thieves must have come from very 
far away, for they could find no trace of them. Again 
they suggested that I should wait till the following day. 
In the meantime if I released their chief he would go him- 
self to try and find my goods. All this, it must be under- 
stood, was not expressed in a few words, but was 
accompanied by endless speeches absolutely beside the 
question, and the Shauri (palaver) had already lasted more 
than two hours. I declined to continue the discussion any 
longer, and ordered the preparations to be made for the 
execution. A stout rope was passed over a branch of 
the tree ready to hoist the prisoner. Seeing that I was 
in earnest, the natives then suggested that they should 
pay me a ransom for the life of their chief. This I 
declined to accept, adding that now I would no longer 
be satisfied with the return of the stolen property, but that 
the thief I had wounded on the previous night would also 
324 



FROM UJIJI TO URAMBO 

have to be handed over to me to be hanged, or else, 
not only would I execute Umteko, but I would also 
make most powerful " medicine " to cast a spell over 
the land, causing the cattle to die and the people to suffer 
from all kinds of terrible evils. Back went all the party to 
the village. When they came back they brought over 
with them six very thin goats and one very stout woman 
ornamented with a huge snake tattooed, or rather carved 
with a knife, on her chest and stomach. Thus, they 
thought, they might appease my wrath, but I declared 
that white men never took women. 

" But," shouted the herald, " look at her, how fine, how 
fat she is, look at her back." ... I was not, after all, 
particularly anxious to hang the chief, and was rather 
glad to find this loophole that would save me from keeping 
my word ; but I declined to take the lady, and told one 
of my men to explain, when I should have retired, that I 
might release the old man if many goats were brought to 
me. Half an hour later came ten goats and a little boy 
of six or seven years of age. Tired of the whole thing, 
I accepted the ransom, and released the prisoners. Before 
they went, however, I told the chief that if during the 
following day my things were brought back to me, I would 
give the bearer a piece of thirty yards of calico, but 
that otherwise I should make " medicine " to inform 
my white brothers at Tabora, some 300 miles away, of 
what had happened, and they would come and burn every 
hut in the place. I may add that the goods never turned 
up, but my medicine must have appeared miraculous 
to the natives, as a few days later I met, as will be 
seen, a German caravan of 100 soldiers with a cannon, 
who fully avenged me. 

I then turned to the little boy who had been brought to 
me, and told him that white men had no slaves, and that 
if he liked he could go away: if he cared to stop with me I 
should give him good clothes and good food. He made 
no reply, but followed me when I started. I afterwards 
325 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

found out his story. He came from the other side of Lake 
Tanganika, and a year or so before his brother had sold 
him to an Arab for two yards of caHco. On. the way to 
the coast he fell ill, and being unable to go on was sold to 
Umteko for five goats. He was very fat, and my men 
nicknamed him Mbo Mbili, "double tummy." He had 
never seen a white man before, and his first impressions 
were most interesting. He told my men that white men 
were very peculiar. " Why," he said, " they have big feet 
without toes, and with horn underneath." This, of course, 
referred to my bootS; which he had taken to /be part of my 
body. The second day he was with me David sent him to 
get a light from my tent ; he collected a bunch of dry 
grass, and sticking this against the glass of my lantern 
blew hard on it. To his astonishment it did not burn. 
Three times he repeated this operation, and then left my 
tent, shaking his head and saying, " The fire of the great 
master, he refuses " {Moto ya Bwana Nkuba anakatd). 
Whenever we reached a village he used to come to me, 
saying that he had discovered some goats for sale. I 
thought him most useful, but soon found out that he was 
not disinterested in the matter. It appears that he told 
my men, " Well, I must get goats, as these white men are 
so fond of meat. The Bwana Nkuba' (big master) gets a 
goat killed every other day ; he has only a dozen or so 
with him, and as he has a long, long way to go, when 
all the goats have been killed, unless he finds others, he 
will certainly eat me, as I am so fat." For a long time he 
imagined that this would be his ultimate fate. I may add 
that the belief that white men eat natives is universal 
among savage tribes : this legend has been circulated by 
the Arabs in order to prevent their slaves from running 
away and seeking refuge among the whites. But to return 
to Malainga — my little slave : he was such a good boy that 
I took a great fancy to him, and brought him also with me 
to Europe. After his arrival here friends of mine offered 
to look after him. He received much care and attention 
326 



FROM -UJIJI TO URAMBO 

from Miss Grace Burns, of Hamilton, and I must say that 
he proved worthy of the kindness shown to him. He went 
to Scotland in August, 1894, not knowing then a single 
word of English, but notwithstanding this he passed the 
fifth standard some months ago. This reflects the greatest 
credit on the child, and also, I must say, on his kind 
mistress. He has never been ill since he has been in 
Scotland, and does not suffer from the climate in the 
least. 

Now to return to my journey. Fearing that the 
natives might take advantage of the night to take back 
the ten goats they had handed over to me, I left this 
inhospitable spot and made my way towards Mount 
Hero, a conspicuous landmark. Before reaching it we 
crossed the Rusizi river, and I pitched camp on high 
ground some 500 yards from a village. Fearing a fresh 
attack I placed three sentries about the camp, with orders 
to keep a sharp look-out, and to shoot down anyone who 
did not stop after being challenged. Had I been attacked 
I could not have resisted for more than a few minutes, as I 
had only a dozen guns altogether. 

During the night a number of natives came by, but, 
perceiving my sentinels by the light of our fires, they 
cried out to them not to shoot, as they were only passing 
by. They were all going to the village close to my 
camp, and all night long I could hear them singing, 
dancing, and beating the war drums. I thought it just 
possible that some surprise was in store for me, and so I 
determined to watch myself About two in the morning 
many of them passed by us again, but on being challenged 
they sheered off I am sure that it was only to these 
precautions that we owed our safety. From enquiries 
made in this place I found that to the south, in the valley 
through which the river Rusizi runs, are to be found the 
Uvinza. Their country supplies all the salt used in the 
surrounding districts. From this point two roads lead 
to Urambo. The one most used passes through Uvinza, 
327 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

while the other, which we took, crosses the southern- 
portion of Uhha. 

The first day's march after leaving Mount Hero was 
a difficult one. About midday we reached the river 
Mogunja, which runs through one of the worst bogs I 
ever saw. The natives have built a bridge over it, about 
lOO yards long, but it does not reach the dry ground on 
either side of the bog, so that to get to it it is necessary 
to wade for a distance of nearly ten yards through liquid 
mud about three feet deep. It took my caravan three- 
quarters of an hour to get across, but my donkey had 
now to be taken over. He could not pass over the bridge, 
consisting of a few logs of wood supported by piles, and 
he had therefore to be driven through the mud. Ten men 
had to work for three hours before they could succeed in 
landing him safely on the other side. Several times one 
or two of the men and the donkey disappeared entirely 
under the mud, and it took the united efforts of all the 
others to extricate them. I was much relieved when they 
had got safely over, as once or twice I feared that one of 
the men would be drowned. Ukaia, a vassal of 'Mtali, 
lives near this place ; he gave me a beautiful sheep, and 
I bought a dog of him. I had much difficulty in getting 
him to part with it, as it was his " Musimo." He told me 
that if I wished to prevent the dog from running away, 
I was to rub his paws with meat. 

That night we had another alarm. Thieves again tried 
to break into the camp, but the sentries noticed them and, 
firing at them, put them to flight ; shortly after the village 
dogs began to bark, evidently disturbed by the return of 
the robbers. 

Next morning we passed through a forest, where we 
found an abandoned village, Indoba. The people had 
left everything behind them — evidently pursued by an 
enemy. We continued our march for two hours and a 
half across the forest, in the middle of which we found 
the remains of a big encampment, and there we pitched 
328 



FROM UJIJI TO URAMBO 

our camp for the night. On the previous day one of my 
Arabs purchased a woman for the price of four dotis. 

On July 6th, after two hours' march through the forest, 
we came out upon an undulating plain dotted with palm 
trees and covered with many little villages. We camped 
near 'Mtali's village. My Arabs assured me that 'Mtali 
would make me pay a considerable " hongo " (right-of-way 
tax). My camp had hardly been pitched when some 
messengers arrived, bringing me a big jar of milk, some 
eggs, two fowls, and a sheep. These were all sent by 
'Mtali. I sent him my thanks, and said I would call and 
see him when it was cooler. I was delighted to get 
fresh milk, but could not make out why it had such a 
pronounced taste of ammonia. I discovered afterwards 
that the natives of this country look to the cow to supply 
the necessary liquid to rinse the wooden jars used to hold 
the milk, the shepherds carefully washing their hands and 
face with the same liquid before milking the animal. A 
number of people then came to stare at me. During the 
day, when I talked of going to see the chief, old Njumba 
Serere, my headman, informed me that it was useless, as 
he would not receive me. The Arabs appeared to fear 
him very much, and none of my men seemed inclined 
to accompany me. I told them that if they did not care 
to accompany me they could stop behind, and that I 
would go with David alone. In the end live bold fellows 
made up their minds to come with me. The village was 
surrounded with a natural " boma " of big trees : inside 
were many huts shaped like beehives. At last I stood 
before 'Mtali. He was a man of about thirty years of 
age, very fat, but with very pleasant manners. I gave 
him five dotis of "Amerikani," * and one doti of beautiful 
red cloth, which seemed to please him very much. He 
told me I should find a white man encamped on the other 
side of the Malagrazi river, and promised to let me 
have boats to cross the river. I learned that he expected 
* American sheeting. 
329 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

to be attacked by his brother, Umtagazo, who was jealous 
of the '"hongo" paid to 'MtaH. As I was leaving he sent 
to ask me if I would stay and help him with my men and 
guns. If I had been strong enough I would have accepted, 
in order to get some idea of how these people make war, 
so I sent word that if the white man on the other side of 
the river would join me, I might return " to see the fun." 
I was much astonished to find there enormous quantities 
of beautiful cattle. They are the only ones I have found 
north of the Zambezi of such size : some of the bulls are 
over seventeen hands high. They have no hump, and 
their horns are of enormous size and span. The most 
remarkable fact with regard to these animals is that they 
have escaped the "sotoka" — rinderpest — while it has been 
sweeping away all the animals in every one of the surround- 
ing districts. These oxen are not, however, indigenous to 
that district, but have been imported there by the Watusi, 
a nomadic tribe closely allied to the Wahima inhabiting 
the western shore of Lake Victoria Nyanza. These 
Watusi are a race absolutely distinct from the Bantu 
family among which they have settled, and, from their 
appearance, I should say that if they are not a branch 
of the Somali family, the two races must at least come 
from a common stock. Like the Somali they are slim 
in body, with fine extremities. They have a long, narrow 
face with the skin drawn tightly over it ; the mouth is 
narrow, showing the teeth well when they speak ; the nose 
is long and straight ; the forehead high and the hair silky, 
undulating, and growing evenly over the head, not in 
bushy patches like the Bantus. Their demeanour is sober 
and most dignified ; their colour is light brown. In fact, 
they so resemble the Somali, that when they see Somali 
they say, " Oh, these are our brothers ! " The Watusi 
have adopted the language of the people among whom 
they live, but they do not consider themselves as subjects 
of the chiefs in whose country they dwell. Their principal 
— almost only — occupation consists in tending the cattle, of 
330 



FROM UJIJI TO URAMBO 

which they take remarkable care. At night, for instance, 
they light huge fires covered with green bushes in the 
middle of the kraals ; the cattle collect around these, and 
thus, while getting warm, they also avoid the bites of 
mosquitoes. Another striking thing is the tameness of the 
animals, among which the Watusi will walk, pulling their 
tails, stroking their heads, and climbing on their backs 
without the least sign of irritation on the part of the animals. 

I should have liked to be able to study this tribe 
carefully, but could not do so on account of the hostility 
of the Wahha. It may be added that they have a 
tradition that they originally came from the north. The 
Waganda might be, and most likely are, an offshoot of this 
race, with a certain amount of Bantu blood among them. 
The people of Uganda greatly appreciate Watusi, or 
rather Wahima, women. Watusi and Wahima are, as 
I said, the same tribe, but the former have penetrated 
more to the south than the latter. 

The following day we reached the Malagrazi river ; it 
was about forty yards broad, and of a distinctly reddish 
colour. The canoes were of two sorts ; some hollowed 
out of palm trees and the others made of bark sewn 
together with palm fibre. The latter are from twelve to 
twenty-four inches broad and from twelve to fifteen feet 
long. It is positively marvellous to see what they can 
carry : in the smallest I stowed seven men and some of 
the baggage. Our crossing took two hours, and I found 
it most difficult to prevent the men, women, and children 
from crowding the boats. I pitched camp on the other 
side of the river, where I heard that two Europeans 
were in the neighbourhood. Anxious to get news, I 
sent them a letter. 

The next day an answer came. The two Europeans 
were Germans, Herr Siegl and Lieutenant von Bodmer, 
on their way from Tabora to Ujiji with a hundred soldiers. 
They- were stopping with the chief, Luhaga, and they 
asked me to wait for them. At ten o'clock they turned 
331 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

up, and halted near the river. I found them charming 
men. Siegl, who was in command of the expedition, was 
an Austrian, and von Bodmer an officer in the German 
army. Siegl only intended to go on a visit to Ujiji, and 
hoped to return by Karema, There was no news from 
Europe. He was no whit better off in this particular than 
I was, his last letters dating from December. During 
the day 'Mtali sent messengers, imploring the whites "to 




CROSSING THE MALAGRAZI RIVER. 



come and sleep at his place," as he expected to be attacked 
during the night by Umtagazo. At Siegl's suggestion I 
determined to return to 'Mtali's with him. I stopped 
there two days with the Germans. The chief sent us 
quantities of kombe for our men, and presented the 
Germans with some fine tusks of ivory, and some thirty 
head of cattle ; these Siegl asked me to take to Tabora, 
and presented me with a milch cow for my trouble. 
'Mtali then explained the cause of the row with his 
brother : it appears that Umtagazo, jealous of the great 
number of Arab caravans passing through 'Mtali's country, 
332 . ■ 



FROM UJIJI TO URAMBO 

demanded from him a half share of the hongo — price paid 
for right of way — extorted from the Arabs. 'Mtali dechned 
to give him anything, and Umtagazo decided to fight him. 
Siegl sent messengers to Umtagazo, ordering him to 
desist from hostilities and to come to him. At first he 
refused to do so, but next day he sent word that he was 
coming, and all chance of a fight seeming over I took my 
leave of Siegl. The fight came off all the same, as will 
be seen. 

Two days later I found my donkey's head and muzzle 
all covered with hard swellings. His gums were bleeding 
and in a frightful state of congestion, and his tongue was 
enormously swollen, his breathing very difficult, and his 
extremities quite cold. I had his belly rubbed with 
Elliman's embrocation, and applied ' mustard plasters to 
his legs. He had great trouble to keep on his feet, but 
after a time my treatment seemed to have brought him 
round a little. At 6.30 we started, and kept going till a 
quarter to eight, when down he tumbled. He got up, 
then fell again. He tried to walk, but trembled on his 
legs, and began knocking himself against the trees. I 
could see he was suffering terribly. I once more applied 
Elliman and mustard, but it was no good. He was 
taken with convulsions, and began biting the ground. All 
treatment was useless, so I put an end to his sufferings 
with a bullet through his head. I made a rapid post- 
morteiu, and found pulmonary and intestinal congestion, 
but no ulceration. The Mtusi, who drove the oxen, 
informed me that this was the " sotoka " — rinderpest ; * 
in any case, it was neither " lung sickness " nor " horse 
sickness." After passing Yakelela, of which Mokeba was 
the chief, we arrived at another village, surrounded by a 
good boma, five or six hundred yards further on. 

* After comparing the symptoms of the attack, and the state of the organs 
after death, with the description given in the Bechuanaland Government 
Gazette of rinderpest, I had no doubt that the animal had died of this 
disease. 

333 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

Some natives, who had arrived from the Malagrazi 
river, said that they had heard the boom of cannon. I 
concluded that the Germans must have been fighting 
after all. 

Next day, after five hours' march, nearly all the time 
across forests and over low hills, we reached Kulonga, 
whose chief was Sahiri. It is a big village, surrounded 
by a boma, with inner bomas, inside one of which I 
camped. Shortly after my arrival I heard an ass bray. 
I sent David to find out to whom it belonged. It 
appeared that it had been left for dead by some Arabs 
a few months earlier. One of the natives had taken it 
in, and was willing to sell it for a trifle. I bought it for 
ten dotis of "Amerikani" and one piece of handkerchiefs, 
glad to be able to replace so soon the one I had lost. 

At sunset some of my people rushed into camp with 
the news that a herd of oxen was coming, driven away 
from the seat of the war that the Germans were making. 
The news I had received the day before was therefore 
correct. My headman informed me in the evening that 
the people meant to attack me during the night. 

In order to avoid a surprise, I stationed sentinels 
around the camp, and before sunrise I had the baggage 
taken out of the village. I then sent for the chief Sahiri, 
and told him that I was perfectly aware that he had 
meant to attack me, and that I should take possession 
of all the oxen in the village, amounting to nearly one 
hundred ; and that I would hand them over to the 
Germans at Tabora, where he could go and claim them, 
adding that they would only be returned to him if I was 
not attacked so long as I was in Uhha. Unfortunately 
they were somewhat in the nature of a white elephant, 
as I had not enough men to drive them ; and while I 
was considering what I should do, Sahiri's people came 
rushing out of the village, crying " Vita ! Vita ! " (" War ! 
War ! ") Threats, cries, howls, assailed us on all sides. 
They would smash me ; they would not allow the oxen 
334 



FROM UJIJI TO URAMBO 

to go ; and so on and so on. I walked towards them 
with David, rifle in hand. In one moment the whole 
band took to their heels. When we entered the village 
not a soul remained there. I wanted, if possible, to avoid 
a fight : so, giving my gun to one of my men, I cried out 
to the people hidden in the long grass that I wanted to 
speak to them, and that if they came forward I would not 
hurt them. After a great deal of hesitation, one fellow 
at last came to a spot about fifty yards from me. I told 
him that I had no wish to make war against them ; that 
I had taken possession of the oxen because they had 
meant to attack me. I then added that I had not the 
slightest desire to keep their oxen, but that I insisted on 
the payment of a fine for their having threatened me. 
After I had wrangled with them for some time, it was 
agreed that they should pay me a fine of three animals. 
So I went with three men to give them back their oxen, 
keeping three fine beasts. But then a fresh row sprang 
up ; they declared that there were six short in the herd. 
It was just possible that they were ahead with the oxen 
from 'Mtali belonging to the Germans, but I did not 
know. However, I was sick of the thing, and I wanted 
to close the incident. So to conclude the matter I pro- 
posed to give them six pieces of " Amerikani " for the 
animals they pretended were missing. The three animals 
paid to me as a fine I handed later on to the Germans, 
for of course I considered this " take " to belong to them. 
The incident over, we started, and, after a wearying 
march of more than five and a half hours across a sandy 
plain, I arrived at 'Mforongo, where Kisinda was chief 
This village was surrounded by a natural boma of 
euphorbus trees. Most of the huts were in the shape of 
a beehive, but pointed at the top. Kisinda being absent 
on a visit to Luhaga, the paramount chief of the district, 
his prime minister brought me some rice and five or six 
baskets of patatas. I then had the honour of a visit from 
the sister of Luhaga. ■ She came to ask me for some 
335 



. THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

medicine for her stomach, as she complained of great 
suffering, and thought I might be able to afford her relief 
I did my best, but I am afraid that she did not appreciate 
my medicine, as she complained that " it did not taste 
bad at all"! 

The next day, after crossing a big swamp, we arrived at 
Irindi. At last we were in Unyamwezi, and I felt very 
glad to think that at length I was out of Uhha. The huts 
were quite different from those of the Wahha, being 
pointed, with the roof descending till it almost touched 
the ground, and with a little kind of verandah running 
all round. By the side of each hut is a smaller one for 
the Musimo, such as I have before described ; the natives 
preserve their grain by storing it in immense bottles of 
wood, some of them over six feet high. 

I found the Wanyamwezi very different from their 
Wahha neighbours. I was greeted most hospitably in all 
the villages I came across. I was only disturbed several 
times by lions that broke out among the cattle during the 
night, and at the end of five days, on July 23, I arrived at 
Urambo. I had written to Mr. Shaw, the missionary in 
charge of the London Missionary Society's station, 
announcing my arrival, and saying that I expected to 
stop at a native village that day. I did not wish to arrive 
at the Mission on a Sunday ; but on the way some 
messengers arrived with a charming letter begging me to 
come straight on. The country we crossed was thickly 
strewn with villages, and after a march of three hours and 
a half we arrived at the Mission. Mr. Shaw received me 
with the greatest kindness and cordiality ; his wife was a 
charming, elegant, and refined lady. She was the proud 
mother of an adorable baby, who seemed to be in the best 
of health, and who had not the curious waxy complexion 
so common to white children brought up in Africa. 

The Urambo Mission was founded in 1881, and for 
more than ten years Mr. Shaw had been at its head. The 
house he occupied was quite new ; it had already been 
336 



FROM UJIJI TO URAMBO 

burnt down twice, once by lightning, and once by a 
servant. From the windows stretches quite a fairy view of 
the surrounding country, the house being situated on the 
top of a hill. All the doors and windows are of the 
mahogany of the country, and of rosewood. In the 
dining-room there is a superb sideboard and table, also 
made from native wood, and of perfect workmanship. 
What struck me most was the simple elegance and 
good taste reigning in this pleasant household. Pretty 
services of china appeared at meals ; spotless, well-washed, 
and embroidered table-linen, all so clean and well kept 
that you could hardly believe yourself in the heart of 
Africa. But from this description my readers must not 
imagine that a missionary's life is all rosy. All the little 
refinements of civilized life are only obtained at an 
enormous expenditure of time and trouble, during the 
rare intervals of leisure that the constant labour connected 
with the Mission leaves to Mr. and Mrs. Shaw. They are 
never idle for a moment ; and when one thinks of the 
pecuniary resources at their disposal the result is simply 
marvellous. To say that I was feasted, petted, and spoilt 
at Urambo would give but a very poor idea of how I was 
treated. I shall never forget the kindness I received 
there ; kindness offered so cordially and so generously 
that I shall ever be touched by its recollection. 

Mr. Shaw is one of the few missionaries I came across 
who realized that his duty did not consist in baptizing the 
greatest possible number of natives, and thus being able 
to show that he had converted so many heathen. His 
conception of the duty imposed on him by his calling was 
loftier : he took great interest in the welfare of the people, 
without distinction between those who attended the 
Mission and those who declined to do so. He tried to 
educate the people by teaching them to lead cleaner and 
healthier lives than they did when he first came among 
them ; he taught many of them trades, and showed them 
how to use what Nature had given them. As I said 
339 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

just now, his own house was a marvel considering that 
it had been entirely built from materials found in the 
country. 

What struck me most, as one of the results of his 
instruction, was the gentlemanly behaviour of the young 
chief of Urambo, " Tuga Moto," son of the celebrated 
Mirambo. This lad of fifteen, the son of a Watusi 
woman, had most refined features, with large expressive 




TUGA MOTO, CHIEF OF URAMBO. 



eyes and a golden complexion. When he came to see me 
I was much impressed by his dignified appearance and his 
reserved, though not shy manners ; and when I returned 
his call he received me with perfect courtesy, offering me a 
chair — a present from Mr. Shaw — and doing the honours 
of his home in a way I never found in any other native. 
He was most respectful to his mother, and lacked the 
arrogance displayed by most boy chiefs towards their 
inferiors. All this was due to the teaching of Mr, and 
340 



FROM UJIJI TO URAMBO 

Mrs. Shaw, in whose house he had lived for several years. 
I was much interested in a necklace that came from his 
father, Mirambo. This was made entirely of human teeth ; 
there were eighty-four of them, each one having been 
extracted from the mouth of an Arab slain by Mirambo. 



3.41 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE WANYAMWEZI 

WHILE at Urambo I was enabled to collect a good 
deal of information concerning the Wanyamwezi. 
The first subject that naturally engages one's attention 
is the political constitution and conditions of the people. 
At the head of all, and possessing absolute power, is a 
principal chief called Umtene, which means " King." The 
monarchy is elective, not hereditary, although, generally 
speaking, a new ruler is chosen from among the nearest 
relatives of the deceased monarch. Thus when Mirambo 
died he was succeeded by his brother Upanda Chalo, who 
in turn was followed by Tuga Moto, a son of Mirambo. 
On his succession the King takes a special name, by 
which alone he is known and addressed during his tenure 
of power. 

Next to the King come the chiefs, or viceroys, of the 
various districts, called "Wagani," nominated by the 
people and chosen by the King on the occasion of the 
latter's election ; then the vassal chiefs, hereditary in 
certain places in the country of Unyamwezi proper, but 
nominated by the King in countries that have been 
conquered and annexed. All these inferior chiefs have 
power to decide questions of local and minor importance ; 
but the Umtene alone has the power of life and death. 
Even in cases decided in the first instance by the inferior 
chiefs there is always a right of appeal to the King. 
To his decision are referred the quarrels between the 
chiefs themselves. Women, and even minors, can be 
342 



THE WANYAMWEZI 



elected or nominated chiefs ; and the former, especially 
the Wogoli, or King's wives, exercise a great influence 
in all state affairs. All these inferior chiefs, together with 
certain officers of the royal household, form a council, 
which it is the duty of the King to consult in all impor- 
tant matters. This he does for some time after his 
accession, and until his 
power has been firmly 
established, when he 
usually acts on his own 
initiative, and without 
taking the trouble of call- 
ing the council together. 

The system of govern- 
ment is distinctly feudal, 
since every subject of the 
King has, indirectly at 
least, to render him cer- 
tain services each year : 
this is effected by each 



WEAPONS OF THE WANYAMWEZI, 

1. War Arrow. 

2. Spear-head. 



3. Hunting Arrow. 

4. Wooden Arrow-head for birds. 



by the people. The King and chiefs of districts are 
entitled to a portion of the harvest ; but I was not able 
to ascertain that this was a fixed quantity. I was told 
that it varies considerably according to the size of the 
villages, and according as the harvest has been good or 
bad. 

The religion of the Wanyamwezi is founded mainly on 
the worship and cult of spirits, " Musimo." Their cere- 
monies have but one object — the conciliation or propitiation 
of these spirits. They have no idea of one supreme power 
or God — personal or impersonal — governing the world, 
and directing its destinies or those of individuals. They 
believe in the earthly visitation of spirits, especially to 
announce some great event, and more generally some big 
disaster. Thus they tell how Mirambo one day met a 
number of Musimo, carrying torches, who invited him to 
343 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

follow them into the forest, which he did. Once there 
they attempted to dissuade him from proceeding with a 
war which he was then contemplating, and in which he 
subsequently lost his life. 

They believe also in " transmigration," both during life 
and after it. Thus, according to them, a sorcerer can 
transform himself into a wild animal in order to injure his 
enemies ; but in such cases the change is not permanent, 
and the soul does not remain in its new habitation. 

The dead in their turn become spirits, under the all- 
embracing name of Musimo. The Wanyamwezi hold 
these Musimo in great dread and veneration, as well as 
the house, hut, or place where their body has died. 
Every chief has near his hut a Musimo hut, in which 
the dead are supposed to dwell, and where sacrifices 
and offerings must be made. Meat and flour are 
deposited in the Musimo huts, and are not, as with 
many other peoples, consumed afterwards. The common 
people also have their . Musimo huts, but they are smaller 
than that of the chief, and the offerings they make are, 
of course, not so important as his. 

They are constantly consulting oracles, omens, and 
signs, and attach great importance to them. Fowls are, 
for instance, slaughtered, and if on examination the 
internal organs prove healthy and in good condition 
(especially the heart and lungs) the sign is good, and 
the enterprise in which they are about to engage will 
proceed satisfactorily. The most solemn and important 
consultation of the oracles, however, is made with the 
assistance of a " Mfumu," or witch-doctor ; relations and 
friends meet together, and are shortly afterwards joined by 
the Mfumu with his instruments : these usually consist of 
a number of little gourds filled with medicine, a wooden 
instrument which opens and shuts like a concertina, a little 
pot, and some tails of animals mounted on a stick. The 
whole party then betakes itself to the Musimo house, in 
front of which the Mfumu stands with the others arranged 
344 



THE WANYAMWEZI 

in a circle behind him. The Mfumu then holds a kind of 
religious service ; he begins by addressing the spirits of 
their forefathers, imploring them not to visit their anger 
upon their descendants. This prayer he offers up kneeling, 
bowing and bending to the ground from time to time. 
Then he rises and commences a hymn of praise to the 
ancestors, and all join in the chorus. Then, seizing his 
little gourds, he executes a pas seul, after which he bursts 
out into song again, but this time singing as one inspired. 
Suddenly he stops and recovers himself All this time, 
except when chanting, the spectators observe a most pro- 
found silence. After a brief interval of silence the Mfumu 
proceeds to publish the message which he has just 
received from the Musimo. This he does by intoning 
in a most mournful and dreary manner. The congrega- 
tion then retire, and wind up the proceedings with a noisy 
dance in the village. 

Besides these consultations with the oracle there are 
numberless ways of propitiating the Musimo. I ought 
to say that the Wanyamwezi are great travellers, and for 
nearly three months I was able to observe their customs, 
having had during that time nearly 150 Wanyamwezi 
porters in my service. The night before starting they put 
big patches of moistened flour on their faces and breasts. 
On the way, if by chance they are threatened with war 
or any other difficulty, some of them go on ahead in the 
early morning for about a hundred yards along the path 
over which they are about to travel. They then place a 
hand on the ground and throw flour over it in such a 
manner as to leave the impression of a. hand on the soil. 
At the same time they " wish " hard that the journey may 
go off well. On the march from time to time each 
of them will deposit in the same spot a twig of wood 
or a stone in such a way that a great heap gets collected. 
I have observed the same custom on the plateau of Tan- 
ganika, but that was to ensure a safe return. If they halt 
in the midst of high grass each will plait a handful of 
345 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

grass, which they tie together so as to make a kind of 
bower. In the forest, if they are pressed for time, each 
will make a cut with a blow of a hatchet in a tree ; but if 
they have time they will cut down trees, lop off the 
branches, and place these poles against a big tree ; in 
certain places I have seen stacks of hundreds of them 
round a single tree. Sometimes they will strip pieces 
of bark from the trees and stick them on the branches, 
and at others they will place a pole supported by two trees 
right over the path. On it they will hang up a broken gourd 





SMALL MUSIMO HUTS IN THE FOREST. 

or an old box made of bark. On some occasions they 
will even erect a little hut made of straw to the Musimo 
on the road itself, but this is usually done when they 
are going on a hunting expedition and not a journey. 
Near the villages where two roads meet are usually found 
whole piles of old pots, gourds, and pieces of iron. When 
a hunter starts for the chase he prays to the Musimo to 
give him good luck. If he kills any big game he places 
before the hut of his Musimo the head of the beast he has 
killed, and inside a little of the flesh. This is a most 
remarkable fact, as I have never found in any other part 
of Africa the idea of a superior being whose help might 
be invoked. 

The customs connected with marriage are very similar 
to those found among other tribes. Generally there 
is a preliminary understanding or betrothal between 
the young people themselves, called sohosa ; but the 
young ladies are allowed full liberty before marriage. 
A woman may even have relations with other men during 
346 



THE WANYAMWEZI 

the sohosa, provided that the engaged couple have not 
definitely agreed to cohabit. When the father of the girl 
has learnt the intention of the young (or old) man to 
marry her, if he approves of the marriage — that is to say, 
if the intending husband can pay him a sufficient quantity 
of calico, beads, or their equivalent — the " young man " 
comes and makes a preliminary present to him. The 
dowry (paid to the father) is agreed upon, and its 
payment is called Kufulu Pundu (the completion of the 
arrangements). This dowry must be paid before the 
marriage. The price of a free girl is from forty to 
fifty "dotis"* (paid in slaves, calico, or copper); over 
and above this a present ought to be made to the girl's 
mother : this gift is called Sani, that to the father before 
marriage Kiswanlandeso. All this having been duly 
arranged, the girl's friends conduct the bride to the 
young man's village ; he comes, accompanied by his 
friends, half-way to meet her, bringing with him a quantity 
of beads and calico, which he distributes on the way to 
the people he meets. When the party arrives at the young 
man's village they begin by dancing ; then they eat and 
take pombe (men and women apart). The festival com- 
mences in the early morning, and food is served towards 
II o'clock. The banquet over, dancing begins again to 
the sounds of drums and singing. "Shortly after the young, 
but by no means shy, newly-married couple retire, and do 
not put in an appearance again ; the friends continue 
dancing and singing indecent songs about marriage and 
its details. 

Divorce cannot be claimed on account of sterility ; but 
if a woman does not cook her husband's food properly, 
has a bad temper, or commits the fault of dying, her 
parents are bound to supply their son-in-law with another 
wife in exchange for the defective article. The husband 
must, however, pay something in compensation for the 
wear and tear of his first wife if he wishes to be supplied 

* A doti is a piece of calico four yards long. 
347 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

with a substitute. Polygamy of course exists, but the first 
wife is considered the principal one. 

When a woman has had a child she ceases all relations 
with her husband for a period of two years. The age of 
marriage is among men from seventeen to twenty years, 
among women from twelve to twenty. The King has 
usually a wife in every village. Mirambo had about twenty, 
and a thousand concubines. Adultery is of course severely 
punished. The accused are brought before the King, and 
if found guilty are sentenced to death. They are then 
led into the forest and killed with assegais. 

At a man's death the eldest son of his principal wife 
inherits the larger portion of the property, including the 
other wives of his father ; a share is, however, given to the 
other children. Families are very small, males predomi- 
nating ; women with more than one child are the exception. 
Sometimes they have twins, but these seldom survive. 
Three children are the most I found belonging to one 
wife. Drugs are employed to produce sterility; this and 
the practice of abortion account largely for the small size 
of the usual family. The doctors administer drugs for this 
purpose, but they keep them secret, and it is impossible 
to obtain any precise information concerning them ; that 
they exist, and are effective, is a certainty. If an un- 
married girl gives birth to a child the father of the child 
has a right to it ; but in any case if a man renders a girl 
enceinte he must marry her before the child is born, other- 
wise he is bound to pay for the woman and also for the 
child about three times the value of the ordinary dowry. 

Since the death of Mirambo the population has con- 
siderably decreased, the causes assigned for this being 
two years of famine and the disintegration of the empire. 
In a radius of ten miles from Konongo, the capital district 
of Unyoa, the population may be reckoned at 15,000. 
Unyoa and Wiliamkuru are the central districts of the 
Urambo. Besides these the following districts are feudal : 
Uyogo, Usange, Usagosi, Umsene, Usarambo, Ubague, 
348 



THE WANYAMWEZI 

Kerera, Ushetu, Ukombe. In all, under the rule of Tuga 
Moto there are at least fifty thousand souls. 

Each man has his own field, and preserves all rights 
over it so long as he maintains it in a certain state of 
cultivation. 

In September the ground is cleared and freed from 
weeds. In October and November wood and grass are 
burnt for manure, and in December and January the 
ground is broken up with large hoes shaped like a heart. 
The seeds are sown along the tops of the furrows. A 
woman walks along making little holes in the ground, in 
which she drops some seeds, while another follows her 
and covers this hole with earth. Here and there in the 
dry ground they make pits about a foot deep to collect 
water. 

They begin by sowing rice, then maize and millet, 
together with vetch in alternate furrows, then beans and 
monkey nuts among the maize. Cassava and patatas are 
planted in January and February. Pumpkins are generally 
planted by themselves in the villages about December. 
The main harvest takes place in July, the first nuts being 
collected about the end of June. 



* The following are the principal products cultivated : — 

1. Millet — Matama. 8. Monkey nuts — Kalanga. 

2. Maize — Mdeke. 9. Pumpkins — Maboga. 

3. Rice — Mpunga. 10. Gourds — Madodoke. 

4. Cassava — Mohogo. 11. Bananas — Madoke. 

5. Patatas — Kafu. 12. Tomatoes— Niania. 

6. Various kinds of vetches. 13. Cotton — Lua, grows wild, but 

7. Haricots — Mahargive is very little cultivated. 

(always eaten dry). 
The following woods are used for building purposes : — 

1. Rosewood of two sorts : (a) " Umkolungu," the ordinary sort, and (6) 

" Kasanda," of very fine grain, very hard, and unaffected by insects 
and ants. 

2. Teak— "Mininga." 

3. Mahogany — " Umkola." The core of this wood is unaffected by insects, 

but not the outside. 

4. Lignum Vitse — "Muanga." 

5. " Mgando " of two sorts : (a) The ordinary Mgando, which is a very 

349 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

up in January and February; while the maize is sown very 
early, so that it may be gathered in March and eaten green. 
No one is allowed to gather in his harvest before the 
chiefs' fields have been cleared. After the harvest there 
is a kind of festival, accompanied by singing and dancing 
and great jubilation generally. 

Every year, or at most every two years, they change 
the crop ; in fact there is a regulation rotation of crops, 
although how this rotation is regulated I cannot say. 

The bark of most of the big trees is largely used, and 
from it are made most ingeniously constructed boats, bee- 
hives, boxes for grain, and almost every kind of receptacle. 
Cotton (" Lua ") is employed for making thread and a 
certain stuff called masigeta. Baskets are largely used, 
and the coarser sort are generally made of the palmus 
borassus. Besides these one finds the ordinary rush 
baskets, and others made from common grass. 

The rainy season begins in November, and during that 
and the following month there are constant little showers. 
In January and February the rains are very heavy, and 
the storms terrible. There is a short interval of about a 
fortnight in February, but at the end of March and 
beginning of April the downpour is heaviest. This 
diminishes gradually towards the end of the month, and 
in May the rain is over. Nearly all the heavy rains are 
accompanied by thunderstorms, and many people are 
struck and killed by the lightning. 

resinous wood, and of which the natives manufacture charcoal, (d) 
Mgando Karati, of very poisonous qualities, like aconite, from which 
whole families have been known to succumb. This is what is generally 
used for "Muavi." 

6. " Mkune " — very hard wood, the colour of snuff. 

7. "Umkukuti" — very hard ; light brown. 

8. " Umsamua " — soft ; dark brown. 

9. " Gogonde " — for making laths. 

10. Wild plum — " Mlungulungu," a most useful wood: and numberless 
other trees of small dimensions. 



350 



CHAPTER XVI. 

URAMBO TO TABORA 

HAVING recruited men to complete my caravan I 
left Urambo, sorry to leave my kind and hospit- 
able friends. The first day's march was a short one, 
to the Pero* or boundary of the district of Urambo. The 
following- day I felt rather seedy at starting. With 
difficulty I marched for two or three hours, and then felt 
so bad that I could scarcely move. We were in an open 
forest, and not expecting to find a village. I was about to 
return when my men informed me that I should find 
a small village quite close by. I dragged myself along. for 
a quarter of an hour, having to rest every two or three 
minutes, but the effort was so great that I felt quite 
exhausted, and had to be helped by two men to reach the 
village a mile further on. It consisted of a dozen huts in the 
middle of a clearing. I threw myself down, and from that 
moment until three days later I remember nothing. All 
my men thought that I Was going to die, and were much 
astonished when I appeared in front of my tent on the fourth 
day. I then engaged eight men from the village to carry 

* On many maps this Pero or Monosopero constantly appears as the 
name of a village. This is a great mistake, as it merely means the last 
village of a district. In the same way the word Guilmru means the capital 
residence of the chief This reminds me of an amusing mistake that appeared 
on a foreign map. The name of a village was put down as Sijui, which 
means " I do not know." Evidently the traveller, ignorant of the language, 
wrote down the reply he received from the man he questioned, and thus 
arrived at this brilliant result. The only way to avoid such mistakes is to 
make it a rule to enquire of various people before jotting down a name. 

351 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

me to Tabora in a hammock. Of this part of my journey 
I can say nothing. I merely remember being carried 
through forests, all along which I noticed hundreds of poles 
about fifteen to eighteen feet high piled up against trees. 
I enquired what they were, and was told that they were 
offerings to the " Musimo " (spirits). That same afternoon, 
as soon as the camp was laid, as I was sitting in my 
long chair, I noticed my men busy cutting trees and 
clearing them of branches, and afterwards adding them 
to one of the piles. This, they said, was to prevent 
any harm happening to us, as otherwise the spirit of the 
forest might be angry with us. 

Whenever we camped on the edge of a grass plain they 
used to plait together quite a number of pieces of grass, 
thus forming a collection of arches to propitiate the spirit 
of the plains. At the end of a few days we left the forest 
and uninhabited plains, and found ourselves among grassy 
hills covered with numerous villages. We were in 
Unyanyembe. At last we reached Tabora, where I 
was most hospitably received by Frau Siegl, the plucky 
and charming wife of the officer I had met in the Wahha 
country. Tabora was formerly one of the most important 
centres of Central Africa. Through this place the caravans 
bound for Ujiji, those going to Victoria Nyanza and 
Uganda, as well as those proceeding towards Kazembe, 
used to pass and halt for a month or two to recoup 
themselves ; in fact, until fifteen years ago the whole of the 
trade of Central Africa passed through Tabora. Now all 
is changed. The ivory of the Manyema country goes 
either by the Congo or else by Nyasaland or Uganda. 
The trade of Uganda passes through the Masai country to 
or from Mombasa, and Tabora has lost all its former 
importance. Half a dozen Arab traders are still settled 
there, and the Germans have erected a small fort or rather 
built a wall around some Arab buildings in the village. It 
was only in 1892 that they managed to break down 
the power of Sikhi, an Arab chief, who lived some six 
352 



URAMBO TO TABORA 

miles from Tabora in the best fortified village of the whole 
of Africa. Twice he repelled the Germans, but at last his 
place was taken after a regular siege by one of the most 
brilliant officers of the German service — Lieutenant Printz. 
In the absence of the chief of the station, a non-com- 
missioned officer was left in command. This man, who by 
trade was a working baker, was thus in sole charge of 
a district comprising over 40,000 square miles with a 
population of nearly half a million of people. The natives 
bitterly complained of him, and I must say that he was 
not the man to raise the white men in their estima- 
tion. What struck me most was the absolute lack 
of respect this fellow and a companion of his (a hospital 
sergeant) showed towards their officers. Even before me 
— a stranger and a foreigner — they never ceased abusing 
their officers and all their superiors, including the Governor- 
General. I may add that this was not an isolated instance, 
as I found the same disposition in every German non-com- 
missioned officer I met, as will be seen further on in the 
description of the gentleman at Bukoba. 
- More than three weeks elapsed before I had altogether 
recovered from the severe attack of fever that had nearly 
carried me off after leaving Urambo. My stay at Tabora 
was, however, not wasted, as I devoted my time to the study 
of the Kswahili language. I also put into shape the survey 
I had made of my route from Ujiji to Urambo, and I paid 
several visits to the neighbouring villages. In one of these 
I found the chief of Unyanyembe — a woman : she was 
a constant visitor at the German station, only four miles 
distant from her place, and the chief object of these visits 
was to get a sip of Poinbe ya Ulaya (beer of Europe), the 
native name for brandy. I confess that I considered it 
a most disgraceful thing on the part of the Germans 
thus to encourage among the natives a taste for spirits, 
of which they were, so far, absolutely ignorant. The non- 
commissioned officers thought it a great joke to send the 
woman away drunk after she had come to call on them. 
2 A 353. 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

My trading goods were nearly exhausted, and it was 
absolutely necessary that I should invest in a fresh supply. 
I found four or five Arab traders settled in the place. All 
of them had a large stock of calico, beads, copper and 
iron wire, the currency of the country, and I was much 
astonished at the comparatively low prices they asked for 
these— their prices being fully thirty per cent, below those 
asked by the African Lakes Company at Blantyre. I 
purchased a large stock of about 8000 yards of calico, 
and, as usual, the Arab made no difficulty in accepting 
my draft on Zanzibar in payment. 

Six Mauser carbines and two donkeys were lent to 
me by the Germans on the understanding that I should 
hand them over to the officer in command of the station at 
Muanza. I was assured that the country I was going 
to cross was perfectly quiet, as the Waduhu had not 
forgotten the lesson given to them by Mr. Stanley. 



UNYAMWEZI HUT. 



354 



CHAPTER XVII. 

FROM TABORA TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA. 

I LEFT Tabora on the 29th August, 1893. In an hour 
and three-quarters' march we reached the village of 
Malahani, the "pero" or frontier village of Unyanyembe. 

The second day of the journey I started early, as the 
principal village of Unye, for which we were making, is 
a long march distant through a waterless forest. Nothing 
of importance happened except the disappearance of one 
of my men. He left his gun and cartridges, and made 
off into the jungle. The astonishing thing (for an African) 
was that to find the cause of his desertion you had to 
chercher la feinme. And such a woman ! Ugly as the 
seven deadly sins she appeared to rriy uninstructed eyes, 
and for her this imbecile went off without forty-nine rupees 
which I owed him. 

Six hours' march on the 31st brought us to Isikisa, the 
capital of Unye. Just before we arrived we heard several 
shots in the distance. Knowing that there had been 
war in this part, I lost no time in distributing cartridges to 
my men — only of course to discover afterwards that the 
shots formed part of the ritual of a big dance. I marched 
past the village and camped a few hundred yards beyond, 
at the station of Mr. Stokes, of whose subsequent death at 
the hands of a Belgian officer I shall have something to say 
presently. Soon after my arrival the chief Magembe, a 
small boy of twelve, came to pay me a visit. He brought 
me the usual present, a goat, five chickens, and two dozen 
eggs — they were rotten, but that was a detail. In return 
355 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

he made a modest demand for sugar and brandy. Here 
I perceived at once the civiHzing influence of the Germans. 
In the course of the day I returned his call. His village 
is very large, and I had to pass no less than five stockades 
before I reached his two palaces. I say palaces, because 
I had never seen a native chief with so magnificent an 
abode — two square houses some fifty feet high with large 
thatched roofs. At the entrance was a verandah with 
Moorish windows, from which circumstance I knew that 
the houses had been built by an Arab. Although mag- 
nificent, they were of course extremely dirty. The young 
chief had twenty little slaves about eight to twelve years 
old, and it was his great delight to beat them. He made 
them file in front of him, and landed each of them a heavy 
blow with a stick as he passed. He was especially trium- 
phant >j/hen he left a good big weal. I should have 
liked to give the little ruffian a couple of dozen for 
himself I was detained here a second day by a sore foot, 
due to the horrid jiggers, and took the opportunity to show 
the chief a few simple conjuring tricks, to his immeasurable 
astonishment ; and I had no cause to regret the delay, as 
it enabled me to see a great dance which came off in the 
afternoon. This was very interesting. The Mfumu (witch- 
doctor) first danced a pas seul, accompanied by five tom- 
toms, beaten with little sticks. He wore on his head a 
diadem made out of a zebra's mane ; two bands of 
goatskin were arranged crosswise over his chest, and his 
arms were covered with the same. A piece of cloth hung 
down to his knees in front and to his ankles behind. He 
was also covered with anklets. He began by walking in 
a circle in front of the drums, then gradually increased 
his pace till he broke into a run. Then he stopped sud- 
denly and began a jig, in the middle of which, heaving his 
chest vigorously, with his arms stretched out before him, 
he dropped to the ground. While dancing he sang a little 
solo of his own, accompanied by the spectators. Then 
he rose, and striking one of the drums two or three times 
356 



TABORA TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA 

began another song, the whole company joining in the 
chorus, after which he went through the whole of the 
previous performance. This lasted all day and went on 
till late in the night. A large crowd had collected round 
him, and at times grew quite enthusiastic, men and women 
divesting themselves of their ornaments, necklaces, bracelets, 
and anklets, and throwing them at his feet — for all the 
world like the crowd in a Spanish bull-ring when the 
toreador has slain the bull. He picked up these presents 
without speaking, and deposited them in front of the 
orchestra of drums as he passed. The whole thing was 
grotesquely impressive. 

On the 22nd of September we marched three hours and 
a half across sandy plains covered with brushwood and 
dotted with numerous villages, until we reached the pero 
of Unye. An hour further brought us to a little village 
called Lukogo qua Kanaka, where we camped under a 
group of very fine trees. The chief gave me a most 
desirable sheep, a fowl, and some flour. 

Since leaving Tabora I had discovered a new African 
pest — a sort of tick. This abomination (" kufu " is its 
native name) plants its head in your skin and sucks the 
blood till its body is swollen to the size of a pea. If 
it attacks you during the night and finishes its supper 
undisturbed, you will find in the morning a little red point 
at the spot where it has fed. It deposits in the wound a 
sort of watery liquor, and five or six hours afterwards 
this creates inflammation. Later on a blister is raised, 
and the watery liquor contained in it produces a violent 
sore. 

Our first stopping-place the next day was the capital of 
the district of Ndala ; its chief, Utao, is a woman. She 
owns a fine herd of cattle, which escaped rinderpest when 
it cleared the surrounding neighbourhood. Our road led 
at first through a dry, sandy plain, with many small villages; 
then we entered a forest. Never have I seen a forest of 
so desolate an aspect — great trees without a single leaf on 
357 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

them, while the ground was covered with brown leaves. 
I might have thought myself in Europe at the beginning of 
winter, and the blazing sun seemed oddly out of place. 
After two hours we left this forest and came out on an 
undulating plain, very dry, and thickly dotted with 
villages. 

September 4th was the anniversary of Sedan, and, like 
our armies in 1870, I sustained a crushing defeat; and 
my fate was still worse, for I was driven to an ignominious 
flight. Two hours and a half over a dry undulating 
country, covered with scrub and grass, brought us to a 
little village where I meant to camp. We entered it, and 
while I was having some food I saw some of my men leap- 
ing out of one of the huts as if possessed of demons. Close 
behind them came an army of bees. Everybody bolted 
into the huts ; some daring heroes tried to save the goats 
and fowls, which were attacked by the furious enemy. All 
that were not brought in fled on every side — simply mad 
with pain. One of my donkeys broke his tether and 
dashed through the village at a furious gallop ; then, 
charging into the tembe, burst through the outer wall 
and escaped into the open country. My other two 
donkeys, whose ropes were too strong for them, rolled 
on the ground and howled ; I had followed the example 
of the natives and dashed into one of the huts, but upon 
seeing this I wrapped myself in blankets, and, waving 
torches of burning straw, hastened to the rescue. I managed 
to get the donkeys loose and had them led out of the 
village. I have seen a herd of oxen in terror of lions, 
but never have I seen so many living creatures in such 
mad panic as I saw on that day, and they had good reason. 
Instead of flying in a compact swarm the bees darted 
with the swiftness of lightning to every part of the village; 
nobody could venture out of the huts without half a 
dozen of them literally fastening themselves upon him; 
if the door of a hut was so much as left ajar the swarm 
of bees darted at the opening, and only in the darkest 
358 



TABORA TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA 

corners could one escape their attack. In spite of their 
great number there was no humming: it was a silent, grim, 
pitiless onslaught. At the end of an hour I ventured 
out of my retreat, as the bees seemed to have disappeared, 
but in a moment I was attacked again and driven back 
into the hut. At last when their numbers had diminished 
I blew my whistle, the signal of the assembly. Every 
burden was strapped on in the twinkling of an eye, and 
we fled from the village. My men had never shown 
themselves so nimble. 

I soon discovered what had provoked this attack. The 
Wanyamwezi of this part of the country are great bee- 
keepers ; outside each village a few trees, which manage to 
grow in the miserable sandy soil, are covered with artificial 
hives— old gourds, with a hole bored through them ; pots 
upside down ; old boxes made of bark, or any other thing 
that comes handy. Besides this they put down in the 
darkest corner of their huts short poles smeared with 
honey, and on these the bees come and make their combs ; 
almost every hut thus has its open hive. You can go near 
and watch the bees at work. They are harmless if un- 
disturbed. But it appeared that one of my men had gone 
into a hut and carelessly lit a fire near one of the nests : 
the disturbed bees rushed at him in a body; the alarm was 
passed from hive to hive, and the scene I have just 
described was the result. If we had not been able to 
take shelter I verily believe that more than one of my 
men would have been killed ; as it was, many of them 
were stung most cruelly. The two donkeys, which had 
not been able to escape immediately, were in a terrible 
state an hour later, and in spite of several doses of 
ammonia were very bad all night. Besides providing the 
natives with honey their bees are most useful to defend 
the villages from the attacks of an enemy. The villages 
of this part of Africa greatly differ in construction from 
those we had met so far : they consist of two walls, an 
outer and an inner one, about ten feet apart, and made of 
359 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

poles stuck in the ground and plastered over with earth 
and cow-dung mixed together ; the space between these 
two walls is covered up with a flat roof of sticks over 
which is heaped a thick layer of earth. This sort of 
covered gallery is then divided with partitions of sticks 
plastered over like the walls. These chambers are used 
by the natives instead of huts, so that in the centre of the 
village is a huge open space where a single hut — the chiefs 
residence — stands. These chambers in the walls are called 
" tembe " ; they are very dark, light coming only through 
the door opening inside the village. In the outer wall, 
with the exception of the two doors leading into the 




MY CAMP BEFORE A TEMBE 



village, there are no openings. Small holes about half 
the size of the hand are cut out and are used by the bees 
to go outside. In case an enemy attempts to climb the 
wall — about twelve feet high — he must put his foot inside 
one of these openings, and immediately the bees rush to 
attack him, and will drive away an army more effectually 
than hundreds of .guns. 

Next day we came to a village, in the middle of which 
were three ostrich eggs fastened to a pole. Desiring to 
buy one of these I went in. Not a soul was to be seen. 
After waiting awhile I heard a noise in one of the huts, 
and called to the people. No answer. Then my men 
cried out to the inmates not to be afraid, I should do them 
no harm. Still no answer. My men insisted, but all their 
360 



TABORA TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA 

assurances were useless until they said I was not a 
German. The effect was instantaneous : the people came 
out of their huts in a moment. It happened to be a 
chief's hut I had hit upon, and he gave me one of the 
eggs. While we were talking David came to tell me that 
some of my men, led by one of the German post-boys 
who accompanied my expedition, were busy pillaging the 
village. I hurried up and caught the post-boy and four of 
my men in the act. One had in his hand a chicken he had 
just killed, another a skin and three assegais; three dead 
chickens lay on the ground. I had the malefactors seized, 
paraded my men, and sent for the chief of the village. 
" The people of this village are absent," I told him, " and 
my men have profited by that fact to loot it. But white 
men never steal, and do not allow their people to do so. 
When your men return you can tell them how Mpanda 
Chalo* punishes thieves." And on the spot I ordered 
each of the guilty parties to receive two dozen. The chief 
then explained to me that all the women and most of the 
men of the village had fled, having heard that the Germans 
were coming. This was the second time in two days that 
I had heard the same tale. The day before, at the village 
where I camped, the chief told me, as an excuse for giving 
me only a little flour as a present, that all the women had 
fled believing me to be a German. Wanyamwezi call the 
Germans " Wa-daki," which may be translated " the men 
of wrath." In vain did I explain to the natives that the 
Germans were no worse than other people. " Yes, yes," 
they answered, "they are; the Germans are bad men." 
" But if their people do you any harm you have only to 
complain to the Bwana Nkuba" (the "Big Master," chief 
of a caravan or district). " Yes," they replied, " and if 
you complain the Bwana Nkuba has you beaten. Their 
soldiers steal everything and take women by force. Why 
did Stokesi (Stokes) allow them to come here ? " In vain 

* The name given to me by my men. It means literally " The man who 
ploughs the land," i.e , the man that nothing stops. 
361 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

I tried to make them understand that the country belonged 
to the Germans and not to Stokes. " No, no," they 
invariably answered, " Stokes is and has been for years 
our Sultan, and he is no German, but an Englishman, and 
he only allowed the Germans to come here, not knowing 
how bad they were. If he had not told us that they were 
his friends we would have fought them, and they would 
not have been able to pass through here." 

But to get back to my subject. Having punished the 
thieves I set off again. After about an hour and a quarter's 
march the character of the country began to change. Up 
to now we had been crossing undulating plains covered 
with scrub — thorns without leaves, but bearing charming 
red flowers. But now the country suddenly changed, and 
an infinity of splendid palms rose in every direction. 
After more than two hours' marching we crossed the 
tv/o arms of a small dry stream running south-west. 
All the natives of the country agreed with my guides in 
asserting that this was the Igombe, and I cannot doubt it. 
Half an hour after this point we halted for the night at 
a village very different from those we had found hitherto. 
Most of the habitations were huts of the Urambo type, 
and there was no tembe encircling the village. 

I forgot to say that during this day's march I wit- 
nessed a very interesting little scene. We met a witch- 
doctor on the road, and one of my men asked him for 
medicine to keep him from illness during the journey. 
The Mfumu took one of his little gourds, poured some 
white powder into his hand and passed half of it to my 
man. He then put the powder on his forehead, laying 
it in a semicircle from one temple to the other and saying 
" Iwile." My man did the same and repeated the same 
word. Then the witch-doctor repeated it once more, 
together with some other words which I did not catch, 
and these also my man said after him. I fancy these 
words were " Muvile ku sewa," which in Kinyamwezi 
means " the body being hot " — their expression for fever. 
362 



TABORA TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA 

Next day we passed through large plains sprinkled 
with villages. The path wound across the plain so as to 
lead from one village to the other ; so I abandoned it, and 
made straight for a large rock that was our ultimate 
destination. My guide was intensely disgusted at such an 
unsportsmanlike method of travelling. Our stopping- 
place that night was .Itogo, an immense village, consisting 
of three circular tembes about thirty yards one from the 
other. The space between them was absolutely bare, 
without a hut or tree, and gave a most desolate aspect to 
the place. It might have been a fortress with all the 
buildings razed and only the walls left standing. I was 
conducted to the dwelling of the chief; he received me in 
a most peculiar hut built of logs, which formed his audience 
chamber. This hut is round, about four yards in diameter, 
with walls inside it over three feet thick. The walls bulged 
outwards, so that the chamber was larger at the top than 
at the base. Inside the coolness was delicious. Kumba 
Masaka — such was the gentleman's name — was a big fellow, 
six feet high, and about forty years old. On his arms he 
wore numerous ivory bracelets. Round his neck was a 
large necklace made of shells, and he had leather rings on 
his ankles. His people seemed very much afraid of him. 
He possessed a considerable number of goats, sheep, and 
cattle with large humps ; in fact, he was a very important 
person altogether. He was also the proud possessor of a 
dozen dancers, and in the evening he gave a performance 
for my benefit. These dancers wore on their heads a great 
tuft of guinea-fowls' feathers, surmounted by a white ostrich 
plume; this head-dress is tied on a high pivot of wood 
fastened with a string round the head. From their arms 
hung long strips of white skin, and smaller strips were 
bound round the chest. The most interesting part of the 
costume was special dancing sandals worn by each dancer; 
these consisted of five or six strips of leather fastened 
lightly together, so that they clattered each time the dancer 
struck his foot on the ground. As for the dance itself, the 
363 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

performers arranged themselves in a circle round the 
conductor; he began a song which the dancers accom- 
panied. This air was in four-time — a sort of African 
polka. The first two beats were danced on one foot with 
the other raised; at the third the foot in the air was brought 
down and struck vigorously on the ground ; the fourth 
beat was received in silence, while the other foot was in its 
turn raised ; at the end of each verse all the dancers took 
up the song in chorus. Then they started leaping into the 
air, and on coming down beat the ground rapidly with 
their two feet in succession. The spectators seemed to 
appreciate the performance very much, and from time 
to time pointed with their fingers towards the dancer 
who was doing best. The dancers for their part seemed 
enthusiastically in love with their art. 

I was told that no white man had ever been there 
before, and I appeared such a monster that the women did 
not dare to come near me. Many people in this country 
let their hair grow very long and roll it up in braids 
like the Bazizulu and the Amambwe. Calico seemed 
very rare in the place, and by way of economizing it 
children went absolutely naked up to fifteen. 

The next day (September 7th) we made good progress, 
and came in an hour and a half to a little river called 
Uhlo. During the afternoon we had a sharp shower 
for half an hour. The prospect of a downpour was 
not cheerful, especially seeing that my waterproof had 
been stolen, like so many of my other belongings, by 
the Wahha. It rained hard again all night, and there 
was a fine drizzle next morning. We went on through 
a country consisting chiefly of wide open plains with hills 
on either side. On the way we passed many game 
pits. These are holes about twelve feet long, six wide, 
and nine deep. At the bottom are sharp stakes, and 
the hole is covered with tufts of grass ; these pits are 
only used during the rains. We found many fresh traces 
of game. We crossed the river Manyonga, which runs 
364 



TABORA TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA 

north-west, and in a quarter of an hour came on it again 
journeying east. Crossing it we came to a village whose 
people make salt from the mud found near the river ; they 
wash this mud and filter it in earthen pots and then let 
the water evaporate. Soon after leaving this village I saw 
a troop of zebras, and shot one of them. Then in an 
hour I reached Zimizia, a little village where we camped. 
The chief was a woman — Kalulu. There again I witnessed 
an interesting ceremony connected, I need hardly say, with 
the witch-doctoring industry. 

It appeared that a sorcerer, wishing to cause the death 
of some enemy, had recently come in the night to put 
down medicine before his huts. Consequently the people 
had called in an eminent doctor to preserve them from the 
effects of this medicine. The ceremony was the most 
elaborate I ever saw in Africa, or anywhere else for 
that matter. It opened with the slaughter of six goats, 
the doctor in the meanwhile pounding some black sub- 
stance in a mortar. Then, placing the flesh in two 
large pots over a fire, he threw in the medicine he had 
just prepared. Six persons — the eldest about forty, the 
youngest about one — then went into a hut : these were 
the people to be unbewitched. They were followed by 
the Mfumu and his four assistants, one of whom stood 
at the door shaking a gourd full of pebbles. The doctor 
intoned a song, and at the end of each couplet the people 
inside the hut responded with a long dull murmur. At 
the end of half an hour the song ceased, and the six 
persons for whose benefit the ceremony was taking place 
emerged from the hut seated on little wooden stools, 
which they clutched under their bodies, jumping along 
with them in a sitting posture, not unlike a frog. The 
doctor and his acolytes walked behind them. Each of the 
patients had white stars marked all over the body — two 
on the hair, one each on the forehead, on the extremity 
of the nose, on the upper lip, on each temple, two on the 
left cheek, two on the left shoulder, three on the left arm, 
36s 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

and three on the left leg. They came hopping out of the 
hut, clinging to their little stools under them, in order of 
age. The baby came last, helped by the doctor, and then 
they all stopped. The doctor put round the neck of each 
a large collar of blue and white beads ; then he arranged 
them in a semicircle, always without letting them leave 
their stools. He placed upon the ground an oblong 
wooden trough containing a little water with medicine 
in it, and the six patients each put one foot in this. 
The doctor and each of his assistants then took small 
medicine cups and shook them, singing the while a 
monotonous chant, while the spectators shook gourds 
full of pebbles. Little by little the doctor and his 
assistants advanced towards the trough, still shaking 
their medicine cups : these had handles and were mounted 
on a small piece of leather split in two in the centre. 
These cups were held over the trough ; the six patients, 
still leaving one foot in the water, looked up towards the 
doctor ; he and his men then passed the handle, which 
had been previously covered with medicine, between each 
of the toes of the patients, then along the foot, and up 
the leg as far as the knee. The patients then turned 
their left hands, palms upwards, towards the doctors, who 
slowly passed the handle of the medicine cup along 
each finger, then over the palm and up the arm to the 
shoulder, then over the back of the neck, over the arm 
and left cheek, under the eye, over the lips, along the nose, 
over the forehead, and finally over the head — in fact, all' 
along the line of the .white stars marked on their bodies. 
The doctors then placed the leather strap holding the cups 
on the heads of the six subjects. All this time the chief 
doctor was still singing, and his assistants accompanying 
him. At this point the song became more rapid and the 
spectators broke into a dance. This song over, the 
patients themselves removed the leather talismans from 
their heads, placed them for a moment to their lips, and 
then hung them from their left shoulders. There was 
366 



TABORA TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA 

another song and another dance, after which the chief 
witch-doctor assumed an air of inspiration. He extended 
his two arms, with the hands spread out and joined 
together, and bowed his head between them. Then, 
always singing, he pressed his left arm against his fore- 
head, his hands stretched out and pointing to the right. 
He shook his whole body violently, and the dance and 
the song became more lively for about ten minutes, after 
which they ceased. The doctor took the medicine cups 
from the shoulders of the patients, they withdrew their 
feet from the trough, and this also the chief doctor took 
away. He and his four assistants then placed themselves 
each before a patient, turning their backs to them. The 
patient put his little finger in the hand of the Mfumu, who 
took a step forward, and the patient rose. The chief 
doctor examined the meat, turned it over and distributed 
it to the whole company. The ceremony was over. It 
had lasted more than two hours. Soon afterwards the 
holy men departed, carrying the horns of the goats which 
had been killed for the ceremony strung on a stick. I 
took my notes of this extraordinary ritual as it went on, 
so that I can guarantee their accuracy. If two hours and 
a half of it did not unbewitch the patients I should think 
nothing would. 

The next day I passed from religion, or physic if you 
like, to sport. We had hardly been going half an hour 
when I saw a large herd of wildebeest, perhaps a mile 
away. A little further, not much more than a quarter 
of a mile from us, ten or a dozen zebras appeared. I 
managed to get within shot and dropped a zebra. The 
others galloped off, but stopped again about three hundred 
yards further. A wildebeest which was accompanying 
the zebras stood out by himself, and I brought him 
down with the second shot. As this was the first game 
I had seen since leaving the Shire river, I decided to 
spend the rest of the day stalking them. I pitched my 
camp at the first village we came to, and went off with 
367 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

David after the beasts. We had not gone half an hour 
before we came on some more wildebeest, and I shot 
another. We then went towards a valley, where we came 
upon the most beautiful spectacle of animal life I have 
ever seen. The whole plain was alive with game ; on 
my left a score of zebras were feeding, and by them 
as many hartebeest ; in front of me was another herd 
of about thirty zebras, and on the right a herd of 
more than two hundred wildebeest with thirty more 
zebras. It was impossible to get to the wildebeest 
without frightening the zebras before me. I therefore 
approached these on all fours; but when I was about 150 
yards from them they saw' me and turned towards me, 
superbly beautiful. I fired and missed ; but as they were 
scampering off in a serried mass I fired again and brought 
one down. My two shots had put the whole plain in 
motion ; the zebras fled in a close body at a slow 
gallop, the hartebeest scampered after them with little 
bounds, while the wildebeest were off in single file. They 
ran a few hundred yardS; then all stopped again ; but I 
had plenty of meat for my men, and no desire to kill 
for the sake of killing. I stopped awhile before turning 
back to contemplate the ravishing spectacle before me. 
There can be nothing more graceful than these perfectly- 
formed zebras as they play together. I hate killing a 
zebra : they are such perfect specimens of the equine race.. 
Nothing would be easier in these great plains than to 
capture them with the lasso. A few good cowboys with 
good horses are all that would be needed, and I am con- 
vinced that the zebra can be domesticated. Never before 
in Africa had I seen so much game together, and the 
country is admirable for stalking — ^wide plains with short 
grass, intersected by little streams. One could see the 
whole country round for three or four miles, while 
the unevenness of the ground allows you to get . near 
the game. On our return to camp we hardly went for 
a minute without starting gazelles, small antelopes, or 
368 



TABORA TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA 

foxes. We met two more herds of wildebeest, and 
so great was their number that for ten minutes they 
cantered in front of me in Indian file. That night my 
men never went to sleep, but spent their time cooking 
and eating. 

Next day I still saw herds of hartebeest and zebras 
in great plenty. An hour's march brought us to a plain, 
marshy during the rains, but now quite dry. After this 
the aspect of the country changed, the plain becoming 
covered with brushwood and palms. I had been much 
struck during the last day or two by the number of fair 
children I saw. The women in this part of the Wanyam- 
wezi country are of a dark yellow colour, but their hair is 
a dirty greyish-black. The children, on the other hand, 
have quite fair hair growing in towzled tufts, but much 
less coarse than is found in the people further south. 
They all have short faces, large, prominent cheek-bones, 
and short, very wide noses. I wanted to measure them 
and to get some of their hair, but that would never do. 
They knew very well what I wanted it for : it was to 
make medicine to bewitch them. 

The hunters of this region all wear bracelets cut out 
from elephants' nails, and necklaces made of elephants' 
tails, to which they attach great value. The women smoke 
earthen pipes. The children wear round their waists a 
girdle of beads, with strings of white and blue beads 
hanging down in front of it. In one of the villages I 
assisted in the manufacture of copper bracelets. The 
smith took a bar of copper and heated it over a wood 
charcoal fire ; he then gripped the two ends each in a 
kind of vice and bent them inwards, and finally completed 
the bracelet on a little anvil planted in the earth. 

The habit I had adopted of always camping in the 
interior of a village was, I believe, the only way to study 
the natives ; but it had its inconveniences. The vermin 
was beyond words. However, I was now beginning to 
become accustomed to it, and slept peaceably among fleas 
2 B 369 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

and ticks which devoured me. All this time my health 
was perfect, a most agreeable change. This region must 
be very healthy ; the water, all of which comes from 
holes in the ground, has a milky appearance, but is very 
good. 

The 1 1 th September was marked by a weary march, 
through forests and dried-up swamps, of six and a half 
hours. In the marshes the ground was cracked by the 
heat, so that walking was very difficult; and when I tried 
to use one of my donkeys, the sagacious brute immediately 
put his feet in a hole and rolled over me. We camped 
at Nindo, and here I found that a good action is never 
done in vain. When I was on the march from Ujiji 
to Urambo, a woman came to me and asked leave to 
accompany my caravan as far as Usikuma; she had been 
carried off in slavery in the course of a war, but had 
succeeded in escaping. I gave her my permission, and 
a little calico to buy food. At Nindo she discovered her 
brother, who came to thank me, and brought me two 
sheep and some flour. 

The chief of Nindo — Pangiro by name — was a young 
man of about twenty, distinguished by an irreproachable 
and even startling cleanness. All his followers were 
similarly remarkable for the same rare quality. The 
chief showed himself very friendly, thanked me for having 
taken care of one of his people, and begged me to remain 
at his village during the next day that we might be- 
come blood-brothers, an invitation which I accepted. He 
showed a lively interest in all my belongings, particularly 
my watch. Among other questions he asked whether it was 
true that there were two suns — one which went to bed one 
evening, and another which got up next day. I explained 
the true state of affairs to him, and he was intensely 
interested. He spoke to me of Bula Matora,* which is the 
native name for Mr. Stanley, and told me that the people 

* " The man who breaks the stones." 
370 



TABORA TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA 

of Nera had made war upon him, intending to rob him, 
but that he gave them such a lesson that they have never 
attacked any caravan since that time. Nobody among 
the natives I came across had anything but good to say 
of Mr. Stanley. " He did not let his soldiers steal, and 
then if one complained to him he went carefully into the 
case, and if one of his men was guilty of an offence against 
the natives he never failed to punish him. He was not 
like the Wa Daki [Germans] ; when they came into the 
country two years and a half ago [Emin Pasha] the 
soldiers sacked all the villages, and if any one complained 
he was beaten. Ah ! the Wa Daki are bad men. They 
speak like an axe splitting wood ! " 

The next day I gave an exhibition of patience that 
would have done credit to an angel. The chief and six 
of his people were in and about my tent from six in the 
morning to six at night. In the afternoon Pangiro 
returned to his idea that we must become brothers. I 
agreed. He then led me to his hut, and there presented 
me with — a woman, and a very ugly one too. What in 
the world was I to do with this embarrassing present? 
Yet that might have been got over ; I might have given 
her to one of my men. But Pangiro also declared that 
I must give him in exchange eight pieces of calico, which 
is over 250 yards, and four guns with cartridges. That 
was too much. No, I said, I would give him two pieces 
of calico and no more. Thereupon arose an interminable 
shauri (conference), until I declared that I was going to 
eat. " Well," he said, " we will speak again to-morrow." 
" No," said I ; " to-morrow I go away." " Oh ! no, no, 
you will not," answered his prime minister ; and with that 
chief and ministers retired, the chief declaring that we 
would not become brothers, and that we were no longer 
friends. After I had dined I sent him this message — 
"Upanda Chalo is a friend of the blacks when they treat 
him as a friend. But when they choose to treat him as 
an enemy, while he behaves as a friend — very well : if it 
371 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

has to be war, let it be war. Let Pangiro then send his 
word to Upanda Chalo — peace or war ? " 

These words will seem to show a good deal of rashness 
on my part ; and, to tell the truth, if Pangiro had chosen 
to take them ill I should have been in a very tight place. 
He had men enough to annihilate me and my people in 
a matter of minutes. But I was beginning to know the 
natives ; and my attitude, as I never doubted it would, 
produced a good effect. " No," was the reply ; " I do not 
wish for war, but I do not see why you should not give 
me what I asked for ; white men are so rich." I 
answered that I came from a long way off, and had been 
on the road for thirty moons ; I had no more calico left, 
except what would serve to pay my way to Zanzibar 
to return to my brothers. My guns were necessary to 
defend myself against the Ruga-Ruga. To-morrow, I 
went on, I would resume my journey ; and since we were 
not to become brothers, not having exchanged blood, 
we would still remain friends. That evening Pangiro's 
principal wife came to call upon me. " To-morrow," she 
told me, " you will exchange blood with the chief" " No ; 
to-morrow I start again." I flattered the lady by admiring 
her beauty, gave her some beads, and sent her away 
delighted. 

I was very glad to get off the next morning without 
further incident after exciting the covetousness of Pangiro; 
however, we parted good friends, and three days' march, 
remarkable only for rain and thunder, brought me to 
Salawe. 

I had taken great care, in passing through this country, 
to question the natives very carefully about its geography, 
and especially as to the rivers we crossed from time to 
time. The conclusion to which I came, on the unanimous 
testimony of all the hunters I questioned during ten 
days' march, was this : the river Igundo runs between 
the mountains of Msalala and Mohondo. It passes to 
the south of Solwa, which was my camp on the 14th 
372 






TABORA TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA 

September. From the south it receives the river Uhlo 
and the river which comes from the country of Lohumbo. 
These rivers I had crossed about ten days before. The 
Igundo, said the natives, then flows north-west and falls 
into the Victoria Nyanza at Makolo, where on the German 
maps it is called the Isanga. This information was quite 
clear and precise, and everything tended to confirm it. 
From Sindai, my halting place on the i6th, I could 
discern, and took the direction of, the Msalala Mountains, 
which extend to Makolo ; and the Igundo runs on the 
near side of them. This being so, I can assert with 
confidence that it is the most southern affluent of the 
Nile, whose basin thus extends as far south as about 
the fourth degree of south latitude, being divided from 
the basin of Lake Tanganika by a low range of hills, 
on the other side of which the river Igombe takes its 
rise. Hitherto Speke had been the only traveller who 
had occasion to cross this river, and it might be con- 
sidered strange that he does not mention it. But it 
must be remembered that at this time the Victoria 
Nyanza was unknown, that Speke was travelling at 
hazard, and that it is not surprising that he should omit 
to notice a river, doubtless more or less dry, running 
north-west, while his guides were leading him north-east. 
In any case I believe I may claim the distinction of 
having discovered the true source of the Nile. The 
fact would have been more likely to be considered an 
important one forty years ago. All the same, it is 
gratifying to be able to tack an appendix on to the 
work of the great explorers. 

On Saturday, 15 th September, we marched to Salawe. 
The journey was very tiring, and at its end I was little 
disposed to sleep. But even had I been it would have 
been impossible, for about eleven in the evening David 
rushed into my tent, crying in despairing tones, " Bwana 
nkuba inioka" (Great master, a serpent). He had been 
bitten in the finger by a snake. I immediately made a 
373 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

tight ligature above the bite and a large incision; then, 
while they brought me my medicine chest, I made several 
other ligatures on the finger, wrist and arm. I cauterized 
the place first with pure ammonia and then with a red- 
hot iron. As the finger was not very much swollen 
I did not think it necessary to amputate it; but in spite 
of a strong dose of ammonia, toxic symptoms soon 
appeared. The unfortunate David howled continually 
with the intense pa^in, and his extremities began to 
grow cold. I kept on making him drink brandy, of 
which I luckily had a bottle with me. In spite of 
this, tetanus and convulsions came on in half an hour, 
and I thought it was all over. As a last resource I 
tried strychnine, which I had seen recommended in an 
English medical journal ; having no hypodermic syringe, 
I administered one-sixth of a grain by the mouth, and 
repeated half the dose in a quarter of an hour with 
good results. For the next hour, however, it took five 
men to hold him. At last, three hours after the bite, 
his circulation became normal again ; but his sufferings 
were so terrible that, having no morphine, I gave him 
one grain of opium. At the end of half an hour he 
became calm. An hour later his pain recommenced, 
but less severely. Next morning I applied cataplasms 
and had him carried in a hammock ; incredible as it 
may seem, he was all right the next evening. My men 
of course regarded me as a witch-doctor of the first 
eminence after this, for they never believed that David 
would get over it ; for that matter neither did I. The 
village of Solwa stands among enormous rocks; in the 
distance appear the mountains of Nera, towards which we 
were going. At Sindai, where we arrived that evening, 
my reputation as a Mfumu had preceded me, and I was 
met by a man who came to show me his foot. The 
little toe was enormously swollen and full of matter. 
I told him to go and wash it, because it would have 
to be opened. The imbecile misunderstood me and 
374 



TABORA TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA 

returned a quarter of an hour later, very tranquil, having 
cut off his toe. I dressed it, and in a few moments a 
dozen others had collected, with their feet in an awful 
condition from the jiggers. Half of them had removed 
the parts attacked, cutting themselves to the bone. Others 
had removed the big toe-nail. All these sores were most 
dreadful, and all I could do was to dress them with 
corrosive sublimate and iodoform. It was there that I 
was first able to judge of the terrible havoc caused by 
funza — jiggers. In this village there was not a man, 
woman, or child who was not covered with ulcers. The 
people had fine humped oxen, which they kept in large 





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THE VILLAGE OF SOLWA. 

covered kraals, and plenty of sheep. The village was built 
in the midst of grand, wild mountain scenery, and among 
the rocks were numerous monkeys, rock rabbits, and some 
magnificent lizards with red heads and shoulders and blue 
bodies and tails. 

Two days' march on the 17th and i8th among mountains 
brought us to Urima. The country is an alternation of 
mountains and treeless plains, dotted with little hills. 
Before reaching Urima we had entered the district of 
Usikuma : the population here is of a very different type 
from the natives we had already met. The cheek-bones 
are very prominent, and the lower part of the face from 
the nose to the chin very long and pointed. The colour 
of the people is a clear yellow. They let their hair grow 
375 




THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

very long, and arrange it with the greatest care in rolls. 
This done, they fasten a cloth round the head so closely 
that it flattens the hair, and on the following day 
they place on top of the head a great lump of butter. 
This melts in the sun and runs down over their foreheads, 
necks, and arms, scenting them with the most delicious 
rancid odour. The most elegant of these people wear 
a costume somewhat similar to that worn by the Wahha, 
an ox-skin fastened over the right shoulder and open 
at the side. The less elegant have only a goat- 
skin covering the middle and the left side. The 
ornament most cherished by them is a flat 
bracelet of ivory, worn above the elbow. The 
women wear round their waists a number of 
skins falling to the ankles — a costume not unlike 
that of the Makalaka women. Round the neck ivoRy armlet 
they wear heavy collars of beads, mostly small 
red or white ones, though the most valued are red or blue, 
flat and transparent. On the wrists they wear five or 
six heavy bracelets of copper; these are continuous circles, 
not broken like the bracelets I have lately described. On 
the ankles are perhaps fifty rings of iron wire. As ear- 
rings, both men and women wear flat pieces of copper, 
or sometimes of copper wire, with a small ball attached. 
The men tattoo their faces and the women their chests. 
The villages again in this part of the country show a great 
difference from those last described. Each is surrounded 
by a large irregular fence of euphorbus. The huts are 
grouped in clusters of three or four, connected together 
by smaller hedges of euphorbus standing in the middle 
of the outer enclosure. The natives possess large numbers 
of sheep, goats, and cattle. They drink milk from large 
three-footed goblets. 

Half an hour after leaving Urima we got a fine view of 

the arm of the Victoria Nyanza which runs up to Nera. 

Our path led through a plain covered with hills, until, 

an hour and three quarters from our start, we descended 

376 



1 



TABORA TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA 

to a marshy flat, on the other side of which was a range of 
hills extending as far as the lake. On reaching these 
we found them formed of huge rocks of a most wild 
and savage appearance. There we were overtaken by 





USIKUMA MILK JUGS AND GOBLETS. 

a violent storm of rain, and had to take refuge in a small 
village among the rocks. The inhabitants, as was now 
becoming a matter of course, all took to their heels and 
hid among the rocks until they were quite certain that 
we were not Germans. Next morning the weather was 
magnificent, and I climbed up a hill above the village, 
whence I enjoyed one of the finest views I ever saw 
in Africa. At my feet was the lake, which is only three or 
four miles broad at this point, covered with little islands, 
and bounded by mountains on the opposite shore ; behind 
me a confused mass of great rocks, grouped together in 
indescribable confusion, with the most savage and 
romantic appearance possible. An hour's quick march 
through a narrow valley entirely surrounded by these 
enormous piles of rock brought me to the French Mission 
of Bukumbi, where I was received with the greatest 
cordiality by my compatriots. 

Next day came a letter announcing that a German boat 
would leave on the morrow for Bukoba. Desiring to profit 
by the opportunity, I made a hurried march to Muanza — 
five hours of mountainous and difficult country. On 
arriving I found that the boat could not take me with 
all my men and baggage, so I sent on ten loads with 
Wana-Omari, the man I had brought with me from Lake 
377 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

Nyasa. By the same boat I sent a letter to the non- 
commissioned officer in charge of the Bukoba station, and 
asked him to send me boats. Two days later four 
arrived from Uganda, but they could not take me as 
they had come to fetch an English missionary. However, 
the boatmen offered to take me to Bukumbi, whither I 
had promised to return, and at five in the evening I 
embarked. There was a good deal of sea running, and 
it was six hours before we got into the bay of Bukumbi, 




SPEKE GULF, LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA. 

and in the dark it took us more than half an hour before 
we could find a place where we could land. The whole 
shore of the Victoria Nyanza is covered with tall reeds, 
which grow several hundred yards into the lake, so that 
it is very difficult to land anywhere. After three days I 
returned to Muanza, and busied myself with correcting my 
maps, taking photographs — Dr. Langheldt, of the Anti- 
Slavery Society, having very kindly lent me an apparatus, 
as I had left mine at Bukumbi — and writing a great 
number of letters, as one of the French fathers was about 
to start for the coast. 

378 



TABORA TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA 

I spent my time between the Mission Station of 
Bukumbi and the German Station at Muanza. I am 
afraid I cannot altogether admire the purpose and method 
of the missionaries. If they only spent the whole day 
teaching natives their catechism, I would call it useless 
but harmless enough ; but my objection to them is a 
more serious one. I refer to their meddling in politics. 
I have not forgiven their Bishop, Monseigneur Hirth, 
having requested me to write officially to the Minister 
of Foreign Affairs to inform him that eighteen French 
missionaries and 100,000 Roman Catholics were in danger 
of being put to death any day in Uganda; this information 
he gave me in writing, adding, " Notwithstanding the 
danger, the French missionaries cannot think of abandoning 
their converts." It will be seen further on how far this was 
true. As I suspected, nay, knew for a fact, that it was 
an absolute fabrication, I declined to communicate this 
information to the French Government, and resolved to 
study most carefully the true situation of Uganda. Having 
found nothing but praise to bestow on the British Adminis- 
tration, I gave it in all impartiality. I suppose that if I 
had done the reverse, and, like Prince Henri of Orleans, 
courted popularity by abusing everything English, I should 
have been received on my return with open arms instead 
of becoming the best abused man in France. 

The German station is built in the worst situation that 
could possibly be found. They had the vandalism to cut 
down all the trees round it to save themselves the trouble 
of going a quarter of a mile to get firewood. Faithful 
to their system, the Germans have also burnt all the 
villages within a radius of five miles or so from their 
station, and I am bound to say, from what I saw of them, 
that they well deserve the name of " men of wrath." 
None of those I met there ever spoke to a black except 
with foam on the lips and insults on the tongue. The 
smallest fault was punished by twenty-five strokes of 
kiboko — i.e., hippopotamus-hide whip — a regular institution 
379 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

there ; blows with the fist and sticks did not count. Of 
the ten days I spent at Muanza not a single one passed 
without two or three poor devils being flogged in this 
manner ; I have seen as many as eight at a time. Now 
I am not a philanthropist, but I have a horror of seeing 
either men or beasts ill-treated without cause. Above all, 
seeing a vicious non-commissioned officer playing the 
grand seigneur is sickening to me. For myself, I own 
freely and gratefully that I was always most kindly received 
by all the Germans I came across. But unless they change 
their system of dealing with the natives I do not think 
they can either hope or deserve to succeed in Africa. 

One day in particular I was present at a scene which 
was simply heartbreaking. Some days previously a few 
pounds of beads had been stolen from the room of one of 
the Germans in the station. It was proved, or was said to 
have been proved, that two of the women of the station 
had stolen them ; it was also said they had bought pombe 
(native cider) with the proceeds. As the first step, all 
the women were put in irons and received fifteen lashes 
apiece "to make them speak." That had happened some 
days before. On the day I speak of the female chief of 
the wives of the native soldiers had been sent for, from 
a station some ten miles away to the south, and also the 
representative of Mr. Stokes, who had a station a mile or 
two to the north. It was in these two places that the 
women were supposed to have bought pombe. Observe 
that neither the chief of the soldiers' wives nor the repre- 
sentative of Stokes was implicated in the theft. The 
proceedings began with the examination of the latter 
witness, a black, but rather superior in education. " You 
sold some pombe ? " " No," Bang, bang ; a shower of 
blows with the fist rained on the wretched man's face. 
" You sold some pombe ? " " No, master." Another 
volley of blows without giving the witness a moment to 
explain himself The poor wretch's mouth was running 
with blood, and I was so disgusted that I retired. 
380 



TABORA TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA 

A few moments afterwards I returned ; the second 
witness — the head-woman — was being examined. 

" Where are the beads ? " " Master, I beheve that this 

woman " " Give the baggage ten lashes." They 

threw the witness on to the ground, and while four 




BOY RECEIVING THE KIBOKO. 

soldiers held her down, a corporal administered the 
kiboko. 

" Where are the beads ? " " Master, a woman " 

" Ten lashes." The former scene was repeated, and the 
wretched woman thus received forty lashes to make her 
give false evidence. Besides this, the so-called magistrate 
was every minute dealing her blows with his open hand or 
his fist And this disgusting scene had the most grotesque 
setting — the so-called magistrate sitting with a loaded 
revolver beside him, when he had no one to do with 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

except an unarmed black and a woman. Next day 
the inquiry began again — that is to say, the pummelling 
of women, who were all the time in chains. The 
" magistrate " appeared to notice that I did not altogether 
admire his method of administering justice, for he said to 
me, " I hope you will excuse me for being obliged to 
conduct this inquiry while you are here, but I want to be 
able to clear up the matter before my colleague arrives. 
And then you see I am very hasty." 

At this point I interrupted him. " Certainly, certainly," 
I said ; " don't mind me." 

I also spent two days at Ukerewe, another post of the 
Anti-Slavery Society. The Germans had built a magnificent 
station there, but it is not difficult to build magnificent 
stations if you have four or five hundred men always at 
forced labour. If a man tries to escape he is fired upon. 

Such were the proceedings of the agents of a society 
which professed to be suppressing slavery. I could make 
allowances for a black chief who condemns to death a 
man accused of sorcery: at least the chief lets the accused 
take " muavi," in which the man places the same faith as 
an Englishman does in the intelligence of a jury : both 
may be mistaken, but they are satisfied that justice has 
been rendered to them. I can even make allowances for 
the Arabs, whom it is the delight of every philanthropist in 
Europe to abuse ; at any rate, I never saw them treat the 
blacks so badly as the German Anti-Slavery Society does. 
For the agents of that Society it is certainly difficult to 
make any allowance whatever. 

It must of course be understood that I am not including 
all German officers in Africa in one condemnation. What 
I saw of the expedition of Herr Siegl was absolutely 
different. I am convinced that a juster, more reasonable, 
and more scrupulous leader than he never travelled in 
Africa. But unfortunately the Germans are not all like him. 
Many of the officers are very young men, coming straight 
from a German regiment to Africa to stay there two years. 
382 



TABORA TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA 

From a subaltern's position in their regiment, where they 
have not the right to inflict even a small punishment, they 
come to Africa to find themselves invested with power of 
life and death. I know a young officer who boasted to 
me that in British territory he had seized all the fowls of 
a village, because the chief refused to sell him any. 
Another German similarly boasted to an Englishman that 
he had made war on the natives every day during his 
journey from the coast, and that in this way he had never 
had to open a bale of trading goods, and my informant 
said that he appeared very proud of the exploit. 

Now I assert, without fear of contradiction, that in the 
most hostile country in Africa it is unnecessary to have 
recourse to force of arms more tlian once. If the natives 
insist on war, or harass you, then fight and give them 
an exemplary punishment : that is easy enough if your 
expedition is accompanied by soldiers, as are those of 
all Germans. That done, hang the chief if he deserves 
it ; in any case let the punishment be exemplary. But 
then return to the people everything you have captured — ■ 
cattle, slaves, women — and explain to them clearly that 
white men do not come into the country to do harm to 
the blacks. If the blacks rob or attack them, the whites 
will punish the blacks, but when the war is over, it is over. 
Prove your sincerity by buying from these very people 
what you require, or if they have escaped send messengers 
to the next village you wish to visit, to assure the people 
of your pacific intentions. Very soon all the country will 
know that you are a " good man," and you will find none 
but friends. Above all, repress severely all theft or outrage 
on the part of your men, and remember that it is not 
possible to pass through a country without leaving your 
mark upon it. Every traveller worthy of the name 
should do his utmost to impress the native mind with 
the idea that the white man is a superior being, and that 
not only by reason of his strength, but above all, of his 
justice. 

383 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

The weakest spot in the German system is to be found 
in the European non-commissioned officers, with whom 
they flood the country. These men command caravans, 
and are often left in charge of important stations. I know 
that this has been denied by German officials and editors, 
who never set eyes on Africa ; all I can say is, that 
in three places — Tabora, Muanza, and Bukoba — I found 
sergeants in charge. To the blacks the sergeant is, of 
course, a great chief just as much as an officer, and 




NATIVE GERMAN SOLDIERS AT NUANZA. 

these men of the lower class naturally play the grand 
chief as much as they possibly can. Most of the failures 
of German colonization are traceable, I am sure, to 
the intoxication which unaccustomed power creates in 
men. 

I quite expect people to say, " Oh, you are a French- 
man, and naturally you can see no good in the Germans." 
I can only answer — first, that I did see much good in 
the Germans, and have already expressed my gratitude 
for the kindness I received from them, and my admiration 
for the conduct of some of them. In the second place, 
after a few months' travel in Africa you forget the 
existence of such comparatively petty distinctions as 
384 



TABORA TO LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA 

Frenchmen or Germans, British or Portuguese. There 
only exist two classes in your mind — whites and blacks ; 
and among the whites some know how to conduct them- 
selves, and others do not. You judge them as you find 
them. 



A CT.AY DOLL (FEMALE) 

USIKUMA. 



385 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

ACROSS LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA TO UGANDA 

ON the 15th October, 1893, nine boats came for me 
from Bukoba, and two days later I started from 
Muanza. I was not sorry to go ; the daily business 
of kiboko was beginning to pall. Two hours and a half 
on the lake brought me to the island of Juma, where 
I found Mr. Wise, who had just returned from Uganda. 
Everything, he told me, was quiet there. Mr. Wise, a 
former clerk of Stokes', had built a house in the most 
charming spot, surrounded by trees, with a garden full 
of flowers ; and he gave me the most cordial hospitality 
that night. Like me he was much shocked by the 
proceedings of the Germans. When he passed through 
Bukoba, the sergeant-major in command said to him, 
" Did you know that there is a Frenchman going to 
Uganda, who is sent by the French Government? He 
will make the English sit up." 

Starting next day we came on the 19th to the west 
extremity of the island of Kome, where I landed in order 
to allow the men to eat. The Germans had warned me 
against the people there, telling me that they had lately 
fired on a native soldier ; but I knew that native soldier. 
I had my own ideas as to the probable disposition of the 
natives, and thought I would chance their hostility. I 
was extremely well received by them, and they gave 
me their version of the story. The askari, said they, had 
come with the Anti-Slavery Society's boat ; with the 
crew he had at once begun pillaging everything. The 



LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA TO UGANDA 

natives naturally enough tried to defend their property, 
and the askari shot one of them. I asked them why 
they did not go and lay their case before the chief of 
the district at Muanza. " Yes," said a little fellow with 
a grin, " to be beaten for our pains ; thank you." 

The next day I camped in a beautiful spot surrounded 
by trees ; but no native appeared : however, I had learnt 
by now the way to deal with them. I sent a man to 
explain that I was not a German, and they soon turned 
up in numbers, bringing with them quantities of food. 

Having been now some days with my Bukoba boatmen, 
I had had ample leisure to observe them, and will attempt 
a description. It is impossible to fix their average height, 
some being as tall as 5 ft. _i i in., which is a great height 
for an African, others not more than 5 ft. 2 in. Their 
costume consisted of a girdle of grass and a cape of the 
same material, which fell to about their middle. Some 
bound their heads round with a piece of banana fibre ; 
others protected themselves from the sun with a sort of 
visor of the fibre or bark of the same 
plant ; others again wore a great hat 
as big as an umbrella, made of banana 
bark. The banana is the Providence 
of Equatorial East Africa. These people 
are. all furious smokers ; they smoke 
even when rowing, holding their long '^'^^PS^il^ 

pipes between their toes. The stems native hat. 

of these are made of thorny wood with 
the thorns left in place: they suggest an Irish blackthorn. 
The natives always keep a fire going in the boats, taking 

a tuft of dry grass and 
winding it closely with green 
grass to keep it smouldering. 
They light the dry grass 
before starting, and from 

BAHIMA PIPE. . .7,1 

time to time they keep the 
fire alive by blowing on it. The boats are made of a 
389 





THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

number of long boards shaped with an axe out of 
a tree, and sewn together with banana fibre through 
holes dug with a red-hot iron. A lot of water passes 
through these holes, so that a man has to be con- 
stantly baling it out. The shape of these boats is 
peculiar, and the appended photograph will give a 
better idea of them than any description. Some very 
large ones are built, holding as many as forty rowers. 
They use short paddles, and their power of endurance 
is quite wonderful ; they will paddle for ten to twelve 
hours in a day with an interval of only half an hour's 
rest. Their average speed is about four miles an hour, 
but I have seen them cover as much as fourteen miles 
PADDLE, jj^ ^ little above two hours' time. Curiously enough, 
none of them can swim, probably because they never 
get the chance to learn on account of the numbers of 
crocodiles that swarm in the lake. On each boat there is 
a drum, on which a child keeps up a continual beating 
with a couple of sticks. From time to time he strikes up 
a song, which is taken up by the rowers in chorus. When 
he is not doing this he marks the time of the stroke on 
the drum. At the stern a man steers with a paddle. 
They usually row quite naked. 

They live entirely on bananas ; these they pluck green 
and peel with a bit of wood : then they pour water into 
a large earthen pot, fill it with bananas, and cover it up 
with banana leaves to keep in the steam. In about an 
hour the bananas are cooked, and then taste exactly like 
mashed potatoes ; you can hardly tell the difference. 
There is a kind of banana that they allow to ripen until 
it begins to go bad ; then they crush it and put it in 
a pot with the rind, add water, and let it boil for a 
considerable time. The result is a kind of sweet cider, 
which ferments at the end of twenty-four hours, and 
makes a very sour wine, of which they are very fond. 
It is called "mwenga." They drink this out of long- 
necked gourds through a straw, the end of which is crossed 
390 



AXE. 



LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA TO UGANDA 

by a kind of lattice of fine straw to form a filter. Attached 
to their clothes they generally carry two little bags made 
of banana fibre, one to hold tobacco, and the other a very 
small kind of wild coffee called "muani," which they 
chew raw. They also wear a great number of wooden 
charms, and a goat's or ram's horn or a boar's tusk, 
containing the inevitable medicine (dawa). Each man 
also carries an axe of a peculiar form. 

On Sunday, the 22nd October, after having passed 
a large number of islands, most of them hilly and 
denuded of trees, with only clumps of bananas appear- 
ing near the villages, we made a halt on the mainland, 
not far from Bukoba. The coast consists of hills rising 
above the lake, and tumbling sheer into it. These are 
covered with grass, and in the valleys between them flow 
streams fringed with trees. The natives of the various 
islands we had visited live, like my boatmen, almost entirely 
on bananas. Their huts are of beehive shape. These people 
are great fishermen, either spearing the fish at night by 
the light of a torch, which attracts them to the surface, 
or taking them in nets. We arrived at Bukoba next day 
— the most northern German station founded by Emin 
Pasha, consisting of a few very miserable buildings. In 
the absence of the captain in charge I was received by 
a sergeant-major, a thoroughly objectionable creature, 
who spoke of his officers in a revolting manner. Captain 
Macdonald had most kindly sent me a steel boat from 
Uganda ; but the sergeant insisted so urgently that I 
should await the arrival of his captain,- that I consented 
to delay my start for a day or so. 

The four principal chiefs of the west coast of the lake 
up to the river Kagera, which forms the boundary between 
the British and German spheres, are Kahigi, Mokotani, 
Kayoza, and Muta Tembo. Mokotani's village being a 
trifle over a mile from Bukoba, I determined to fill up 
some of the time by paying him a visit. Climbing the 
rocks which sweep towards the lake, we found ourselves 
393 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

on a plateau three or four hundred feet above the water 
level. The country was remarkably undulating, consist- 
ing of bare, grassy hills, between which ran numerous 
rivulets, at the bottom of valleys clothed with abundant 
vegetation. Along each of these rivulets were a few 
straggling huts hidden amidst luxuriant banana plan- 
tations. Two hours of difficult walking brought us to 
the chiefs village, which stands on a hill. A belt of 
about twenty-five yards round the outer enclosure was 
cleared of weeds, and the bare soil thus exposed was 
covered with a thick carpet of dry grass. A large avenue, 
carefully cleared of vegetation and bordered with high 
palisades surrounding banana plantations, led to the abode 
of the chief On each side of this avenue narrower roads, 
from ten to twelve feet wide, branched off to the huts, 
each of which stood in the middle of its own banana 
plantation. At the end of the principal avenue was a 
wooden gate, about ten feet high and twelve feet broad, 
surmounted by a long staff, on the top of which hung a 
bell so arranged that it was impossible to move the screen 
without giving the alarm. This door led into a yard 
where the cattle were kept ; then another door, likewise 
furnished with a bell, opened into a second courtyard, at 
the further end of which stood the chief's house. This 
courtyard had four openings, each one closed with a door 
like those already described. 

After a few moments the chief arrived, attended by 
nearly fifty of his people. He was a tall, thin man, of 
a bronze colour, dressed in bark-cloth. He wore bangles 
of copper wire on his wrists, and of iron on his ankles. 
The chief and all people of importance were anointed 
from head to foot with so thick a layer of butter that 
it oozed out through their clothes and dripped from their 
fingers ; the rancid odour that emanated from them was 
most appalling ; and as the chief insisted on constantly 
shaking hands with me and desired to touch all my 
belongings, I was soon covered with a coating of grease. 
394 



LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA TO UGANDA 



From time to time the chief and his followers sucked 
banana cider through a straw from a long-necked gourd, 
just as my boatmen had done. After a few moments' 
conversation Mokotani invited me to visit his village. 
He showed me the way— leaning on the arm of one of 
his chief men and preceded by a young girl, absolutely 
naked, who carried four sacred horns — a water-buck horn 
and a small elephant's tusk, one on each shoulder, and 
two ox-horns under her arms. All these were filled 
with medicine (charms). Behind the chief walked another 
naked girl, carrying a gourd of banana cider ; none of 
the chiefs slaves wore the least rag of clothing. The 
people of consequence in this region wear a costume 
of bark-cloth, or a skin fastened on the right shoulder ; 
the common people go about naked or wear costumes 
of straw like those of my boatmen. In this village I 
found a great many dogs of a much better 
breed than any I had yet met in Africa ; they 
are about the height of a foxhound, but in 
build and appearance more like a mastiff: all 
of them wore round their necks four or five 
heavy collars of straw or leather. I was duly 
marched round the village, and found at the 
further end of it about 200 women working in 
gangs of twenty, under a male overseer, at 
enlarging a circular avenue which surrounds 
the village. I was then shown 
the house of the chief's mother, 
which was like his own, except 
that inside it were arranged a 
large number of milk pots covered 
with a pretty design in straw 
mosaic. All the people who 
accompanied the chief carried 
either a long assegai, six feet 
high, or a pointed staff six to 
ten feet long. 
395 



MILK rOl AND COVER. 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

Having seen the village I took leave of the chief, who 
gave me a fine sheep and a pot of the inevitable cider, 
and started back for Bukoba. I had walked about half 
an hour when a small boy stopped me and told me that 
a woman wanted to speak to me. 

" Very well, she has only to come." 

The boy returned and gave me to understand that 
the woman was the chief's sister and insisted on seeing 
me. It was getting very late, but, thinking that I should 
perhaps be able to observe something of interest, I went 
to meet her. I found her sitting on the ground directing 
a number of slaves who were at work in a field. In 
front of her there was set up a moveable screen of plaited 
straw to keep off the wind. I asked her what she wanted. 

" I want you to sit down by me, because I have some- 
thing very important to say." 

I sat down and she came to the point at once. 

" I want some calico." 

" I have none left," I answered. 

" Oh, I know that you have a great deal." 

"But I have come from Bukoba and only brought one 
piece, and I used the whole of it to buy things in the 
village." 

" That does not matter, you have plenty ; all white 
men have much calico." 

" I have no more," I replied in haste ; " and I must go, 
because it is getting very late." 

" No," said she ; "just wait a short while, I am going to 
make you a present ; I have sent a slave to the village to 
fetch it." 

She was so importunate that I consented to stay. In 
a quarter of an hour the slave returned running, and 
handed her a little packet wrapped up in banana bark. 
She opened it, and producing an old bracelet — an article 
de Paris, worth three halfpence — she showed me that the 
spring was broken and asked me to mend it for her. I 
was intensely disgusted at having been kept half an hour 
396 



LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA TO UGANDA 

for such an absurdity ; I therefore rose with great dignity 
and said I was a great master and not a " fundi " (smith), 
and left her on the spot discomfited. 

On the 27th I decided to leave Bukoba, but as the 
captain had not yet returned, my sergeant-major asked 
me to stay till the next day. I answered that I could not 
keep the English boat waiting any longer ; I had written 
to Captain Macdonald that I would start on the 27th, and, 
with great regret, I was unable to wait for the return of 
Captain Langheldt. The sergeant answered that it did 
not matter keeping the English waiting : they were not 
like the Germans, and had no discipline ; they did not 
want their boat, and if they did they could do without it ; 
and if they could not, it did not matter. He said, more- 
over, that I had detained the boats he had sent me to 
Muanza long enough. Not wishing to discuss the question 
with an individual of his stamp, I simply answered that 
if I kept the native boats waiting at Muanza it was at 
the express desire of Lieutenant Richter, his superior 
officer. Thereon this gentleman seized the opportunity 
to say that the lieutenant had nothing to do with it; that 
he, Hartmann, was the oldest German soldier in Africa 
and chief of the station of Bukoba. My answer to this 
was to put all my things on board the boat ; it was 
very heavily laden, but I had no wish to leave any of my 
property in the care of the oldest German soldier in 
Africa. 

We put out about three in the afternoon ; the pilot 
wished to stop for the night at a little island he knew 
of, but we were overtaken by darkness before we reached 
it. When we arrived there, afraid of running the boat 
on to the rocks which surround it, I made the pilot put 
out into the open sea again. At last, at eleven in the 
evening, we were enabled by the light of the moon to land 
on a sandy beach near a swamp. I ordered the boatmen 
to sleep in the boat, and while my servants were pitching 
the tent ashore I fell asleep on board. About two in 
397 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

the morning I woke up; the wind had risen and I found 
the boat drifting out to sea. I called to the boatmen, only 
to discover that the pilot and David were alone on board. 
We were already more than half a mile from shore, and 
it gave us the greatest trouble to fight our way back 
against the wind. Arrived at our halting place again I 
searched in vain for the boatmen, till at last I discovered 
them all comfortably asleep under an upturned native 
boat. The hour was not a usual one for punishment, but 
I thought it would be more effective to convince them 
of their wickedness at once, so I sentenced each one of 
them to receive a dozen on the spot. 

Next morning we started off again at eight. Presently 
a gale sprang up, and the waves began to run tremen- 
dously high. The boat, overladen, shipped a great deal 
of water; the situation became serious; it was impossible 
to run ashore, as the coast was very rocky, and it was 
not until midday that we were at last able to take refuge 
in a little bay. There was nearly eighteen inches of water 
in the boat, and everything was soaked through. I there- 
fore had to disembark, and open all the cases and bales 
of calico to dry the things in the sun. It was impossible 
to go further under these circumstances, and I therefore 
decided to find the nearest chief and ask him for boats. 
I found a few natives fishing, who began by refusing to 
show me the road, but when I seized their boat one of 
them consented to accompany me. Climbing a high 
cliff, we came after an hour and a half's march to a 
village. There my guide led me through a number of 
little streets among banana plantations, and ended by 
stopping in front of a large hut. I told him I did not 
wish to stop there ; I wished to see the chief, Kayoza. 
He replied that he could not take me further without 
having seen the Katikiro* of the village. I insisted on 
going straight to Kayoza, but all in vain. My man 

* Katikiro means Prime Minister, and the term is applied to the repre- 
sentative of a big chief. 

39S 



LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA TO UGANDA 

left me and started off to find the Katikiro. At the 

end of half an hour he returned ; the Katikiro was 

coming directly. I waited another quarter of an hour and 

then lost patience. I told my guide that I insisted on 

going to the chief at once, and 

made him walk before me, fol- .^'"' " 

lowed by an armed man, whom 

I ordered not to let him escape. -^^^ ,-, 

The fellow, however, simply ' 4 

walked me round and round the L -^ "' / 

village, and when I told him that T 

he was mocking me he solemnly ^ 

repeated that he could not take *: 

me to Kayoza without having 

first seen the Katikiro, As I 

had not the least idea where the 

chief's village was, I was obliged kayoza's katikiro. 

to sit down in front of a hut 

and wait for the arrival of the Katikiro. Two hours I 

waited, and then three of the Katikiro's Avives appeared. 

In answer to my complaints they overwhelmed the 

wretched guide with abuse, and ordered him to take 

me to Kayoza at once. But by this time the sun was 

beginning to set, and as they said the chief's village 

was a long way off I thought it best after all to sleep 

where I was. Of course I could get nothing to eat in 

the absence of the Katikiro. It was quite dark before 

the villain appeared ; he was full of excuses and apologies, 

but what was more to the point was his giving me a hut 

to sleep in, and sending for a quantity of bananas for 

my men and fowls for myself 

We could not start next morning until eight o'clock, 
as it was raining hard. By half-past nine we reached 
Kayoza's village, which is like Mokotani's, but much 
larger. I found the chief standing on a small eminence 
outside the village surrounded by some fifty of his people, 
all carrying firearms, and standing in a semicircle. In 
399 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

front of him grovelled a native awaiting judgment ; he 
had committed the heinous crime of breaking a jar of the 
king's beer, and was sentenced to death ; he was taken a 
few hundred yards away to be despatched. Kayoza was 
tall and thin, and of course swimming in butter, as were 
all his principal followers. He received me very graciously, 
took my hand, and held it for a while in his own buttered 
palm. I explained the object of my visit, and he promised 
to supply me with boats. He then took me to his house, 
accompanied by all his people, and preceded by a boy 
carrying the sacred horns, and followed by another bearing 
his gourd of pombe. Near him walked his Katikiro ; his 
house \vas like Mokotani's, but the avenue leading to it 
was wider, and the palisades higher — about fifteen feet, I 
should say. He did not make me remain at the door, as 
Mokotani had done, but bade me enter, and offered me a 
chair, sweating with butter. He first examined my gun 
and those of my men with much interest, and offered me 
a frazela (about 75 lbs.) of ivory for a Mauser carbine, 
which I of course declined to sell him. He then presented 
me with two handsome knives, and some other native 
curios, receiving of course a present in return worth about 
six times the value of what he had given me. At the end 
of about two hours I retired to breakfast in a hut, which 
he put at my disposal. His sons came to visit me — the 
eldest some twenty years old, and the others fourteen 
or fifteen. I found them very remarkable for the dis- 
tinction of their carriage and the purity of their features, 
and as, unlike their father, they were extraordinarily clean, 
not being anointed with butter, they were an agreeable 
change. After breakfast I returned to the chief, who told 
me he had ordered two boats to be at my camp the next 
day. After that he entertained me with a war dance by 
his guards. The more I saw of his village the more 
important I found it. It must have contained at least 
5000 souls. I counted during my short stay more than 
300 guns of one sort and another, mainly percussion locks. 
400 



LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA TO UGANDA 

A curious detail that I learnt was that Kayoza sends some 
canoes every day several miles away into the lake to draw 
his drinking water. He spoke to me at great length about 
the Germans, telling me many tales of their " wickedness," 
and declaring that he would never allow them to erect a 
station in his village, and would fight them to the death 
rather than do so. 

I took leave of this magnificent potentate, and his eldest 
son accompanied me a long way. The people we met 
wore a straw costume similar to that which I have described 
before. We soon came to a large swamp, across which 
was built a road on piles about three-quarters of a mile 
long. At this point I was attacked by a horrible head- 
ache, and obliged to stop at the village where I had slept 
the night before. Next morning, after a torrent of rain, I 
set out again for my camp. The son of Kayoza, having 
heard that I had stopped half-way, came and joined me, 
and went with me as far as the boat. I then discovered 
why he had come so far with me : he wanted some yellow 
medicine (iodoform) for the jiggers, which are found in large 
numbers in this region. I gave him some, and we parted 
excellent friends. According to Kayoza's promise the 
boats arrived about midday, and I was able to unload the 
steel boat. I sent back a present to the chief of about 
forty rupees' worth by a dumb page, whom he had 
sent with me. That day and the next we made good 
progress. We halted for the night at the river Kagera, 
the boundary of the German and British spheres,* after 
which the country completely changed. We were now 



* The frontier, according to the Anglo-German agreement, is the l° of 
south latitude : the mouth of the Kagera is supposed to be a little north of the 
first degree, but as it winds a good deal in places England has a small bit of 
land in Karagwe, while the Germans have a small strip of Buddu. A more 
ridiculous arrangement cannot be conceived. Captain Macdonald had very 
sensibly offered to Captain Langheldt— the German Commissioner — to recognize 
the Kagera provisionally as the frontier ; but the German declined the offer, 
preferring to complicate his own administration rather than do anything that 
might simplify matters for the British. 

2 D 401 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

coasting the shore of Buddu, one of the provinces of 
Uganda. The beach is low and wide, and covered with 
luxuriant undergrowth. On the night of the ist November 
we were overtaken by a tremendous storm ; rain fell in 
torrents : we were blinded by the lightning, and what 
with rain and thunder I could not make the men hear 
my orders. We had the greatest trouble to get ashore. 
My tent was planted in the middle of a swamp, but that 
was a small matter ; with my bedding soaked through 
there was no question of sleep that night. Next day we 
were delayed until two o'clock in the afternoon by the 
task of drying the things, and only got four hours on 
the lake, which brought us to a village in the district 
of the chief Kageriro. I sent a message to him and 
asked him for a boat to take me to the French Mission 
at Budjoju ; but in the evening the canoe sent by Kayoza 
came up with us. The natives brought us food, and my 
men seized the opportunity to regale themselves on a 
delicate dish of fish and grasshoppers. I reached the 
Mission the following day. It is about a mile from the 
coast, from which it is reached by a wide road. The 
country is covered with beautiful vegetation and looks 
very fertile. In front of the Mission the fathers had 
erected an enormous cross. The buildings themselves 
are only provisional ones made of reeds. The station was 
shortly to be abandoned for a new one on one of the 
islands of Sesse. I was very kindly received by the fathers, 
and after lunch returned to the lake and put out again. 
We spent that night on a small island of the Sesse group. 
The next two days we made good progress, and on the 
third (November 6th) we arrived at Ntebe, now the head- 
quarters of the Uganda Administration. I found there a 
fort built on a hill some 500 feet above the water, and 
commanding an admirable view of the lake and the 
surrounding country. I was received in the friendliest 
manner by Lieutenant Villiers — at that time all un- 
conscious of the fame he was afterwards to gain as one of 
402 



LAKE VICTORIA NYANZA TO UGANDA 

the participators in the Jameson Raid. I could scarcely 
have believed that an officer in the Blues would have 
undertaken so cheerfully the hard work he had to do : 
from 6 a.m. till sundown he had scarcely a minute to 
himself. He had to superintend the building of houses, 
and to lay the foundations with his own hands. At other 
times he had to spend the whole day paying the troops in 
calico, and every afternoon he drilled his Soudanese soldiers. 
I was greatly impressed with their excellent discipline, 
and the way in which they drilled did him the greatest 
credit. 



403 



CHAPTER XIX. 

UGANDA 
THE WAR IN UNYORO 

IN order to describe the position of affairs in Uganda 
when I reached it, a brief historical retrospect is 
necessary. When Stanley first visited Uganda in 1875 
he was much struck by the importance of the empire 
as it then was, and by the superior intelligence of its 
inhabitants. Their King Mtesa having expressed a 
desire to have Europeans near him to instruct his 
people, a number of English missionaries responded to 
the appeal in 1877, and they were followed two years 
later by the French fathers of the Mission d'Alger. At 
the same time Mtesa, a monarch of considerable ability, 
had introduced Mahomedan missionaries into his country. 
Both they and the Christians of both denominations 
began to mingle poHtical intrigues with their religious 
instructions. As long as Mtesa was alive these intrigues 
did not come to a head, but when his son Mwanga suc- 
ceeded him in 1884, he found himself in the presence 
of three rival political parties — Protestants, Mahomedans, 
and Catholics. The young Prince, devoid alike of intelli- 
gence and character, wavered between them without 
satisfying any one of them, and a series of revolutions 
followed. Mwanga was deposed in 1888, and had to 
take refuge south of the Victoria Nyanza among the 
Arabs. He then betook himself to the Catholic Mission 
at Bukumbi. While he was there a new revolution 
404 



UGANDA 

broke out, and Mwanga, supported by Stokes, started 
for Uganda and was restored to the throne in 1889. 

About this time the British East Africa Company was 
beginning to penetrate into the interior from the east 
coast of Africa, while the Germans, who, under the 
able leadership of Major von Wissmann, had occupied 
the coast opposite Zanzibar, were likewise pushing into 
the interior. At the end of 1889 Mwanga happened, 
after a conflict with the Mahomedan party, to be once 
more deposed for the moment. Hearing that a European 
expedition was in the neighbourhood of his country, he 
sent messages to request its support. This expedition 
had been sent by the Imperial British East Africa 
Company to the Masai country. Its leader, Mr. Jackson, 
did not consider his force sufficient to warrant him in 
entering upon a war. He informed Mwanga therefore 
of his inability to come to his aid ; at the same time, 
however, he sent him a British flag, promising him that 
if he accepted this, and by consequence the British 
Protectorate, the English Company would not delay in 
sending him assistance. Mwanga accepted both flag 
and Protectorate. Soon after this, in February, 1890, 
arrived Dr. Peters, who had traversed the Masai coun- 
try. After numerous intrigues he succeeded with the 
aid of the Catholic party in persuading Mwanga to sign 
a treaty of friendship with Germany, although he had 
just accepted the British Protectorate. 

Mr. Jackson, hearing of this, at once marched into 
Uganda, and Dr. Peters, hearing of his arrival, hastened 
away. Mr. Jackson established himself in the capital and 
remained there until December, 1890. It was then that 
Captain Lugard appeared on the scene as the official 
envoy of the British East Africa Company. Soon after 
his arrival the King signed a formal treaty with him. 
Meanwhile, in the month of July, 1890, came the conclusion 
of the Anglo-German agreement, under which Uganda was 
definitely recognized as belonging to the British sphere. 
405 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

At the beginning of the next year Captain Lugard was 
reinforced by a new expedition under Captain WilHams. 
A fort was built at Kampala, commanding Mengo, the 
residence of the King. In August of the same year the 
Mahomedans attempted a new rising, and it was decided 
to drive them out of the country. Protestants and 
Catholics coalesced against them, the British officers 
gave their support, and the Mahomedans were expelled. 
Captain Williams then returned to the capital, while 




THE FORT OF KAMPALA FROM THE SOUTH. 
The Soudanese Quarters are on the slope of the hill. 

Captain Lugard, who had followed the Mahomedans, 
pushed further into the interior. After traversing the 
southern part of Unyoro he reached Lake Albert Edward 
Nyanza ; then, circling round the Ruwenzori mountains, 
he marched as far as Lake Albert Nyanza. At Kavalli's 
(rendered famous by Stanley's expedition) he found 
the greater part of the Soudanese, who had refused 
to follow Emin Pasha when he evacuated the equatorial 
provinces. Under the command of Selim Bey they had 
established themselves on the Albert Nyanza. Shortly 
before the arrival of Captain Lugard Emin Pasha had 
come to Kavalli's, but none of his old men would join 
406 



5 




UGANDA 

him, and he marched towards the Arruwimi river, where 
he lost his hfe.* Captain Lugard brought these men 
back with him and installed them in a number of forts 
between Lakes Albert and Albert Edward, and on the 
southern border of Unyoro. In January, 1892, he returned 
to Uganda, bringing with him 100 of these Soudanese 
soldiers. 

During his absence the Waganda had not been idle, 
or rather, to speak more correctly, had not been quiet. 
The Protestants and Catholics, united in face of the 
Mahomedans, had seized the moment of their expulsion to 
begin plotting against each other. Numerous isolated 
hostilities arose from time to time. Sometimes a number 
of Catholics would meet a Protestant and take away his 
gun. At other times it would be the Protestants who did 
the same thing to a Catholic. The relations between the 
parties became more and more strained till at last there 
came a spark to fire the magazine. Some Protestants in 
the service of the Katikiro had seized a gun belonging 
to a servant of one Mugolaba, a Catholic chief Instead 
of bringing the matter before Captain Lugard, this man 
resolved to take the law into his own hands. For this 
purpose he employed a stratagem. He posted one of 
his men in front of the palisade round his hut with a 
pot of beer, which he offered for sale. Presently there 
came along a Protestant, and while he was discussing 
the price of the beer some of Mugolaba's men, hidden 
behind the palisade, rushed out and seized his gun, which 
they took into the hut. The Protestant followed in a 
fury, and Mugolaba shot him dead. The Protestants 
complained to Captain Lugard, who requested the King 

* I heard from the Soudanese who were under Major Owen's command 
that when Emin appeared flying the German flag all his former soldiers asked 
what this flag meant. Without replying he retired into his tent, and shortly 
after reappeared with an Egyptian flag that had been hastily manufactured. 
Brandishing it he exclaimed, "Here you are, my children ; I only showed you 
the other flag to test you, but you see I am still true to Egypt." But all the 
men said that he was a liar, and that he had better take himself off". 
409 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

to punish the murderer. Mwanga, however, acquitted 
him; and when Captain Lugard's interpreter complained 
against this judgment, pointing out that to leave such 
a crime unpunished would certainly lead to civil war, 
the King answered, " I am ready " ; and added a number 
of insults to Captain Lugard. The Captain, however, 
merely wrote to the King asking him to reconsider his 
decision : the only answer he received was a long list 
of Catholic grievances. Captain Lugard then wrote to 
the Catholic Bishop asking him to use his influence to 
avoid a conflict : the Bishop responded in the same 
terms as the King. Meanwhile the Catholics were 
organizing themselves for war. This went on for some 
days, and then Captain Lugard, anticipating an attack, 
and knowing that a Catholic victory would mean the. 
annihilation of the authority of the British Company and 
of British influence, distributed arms to the Protestants. 
Then war broke out ; the Catholics were beaten, and 
Mwanga took refuge on an island on the lake, where he 
was joined by the Catholic missionaries. On their advice 
he refused to listen to the overtures of Captain Lugard, 
who invited him to return. The war went on, therefore, 
and the King with the Catholic missionaries took refuge 
in the island of Sesse. At last, after long negotiations. 
Captain Lugard induced him to return to his capital. 
The various provinces were then divided between Catholics 
and Protestants, the latter obtaining a slightly better 
share than the Catholics. As discontent was still ripe, 
Captain Lugard brought back the Mahomedans to counter- 
balance the intrigues of the other two parties. 

Meanwhile, the question had attracted much attention 
in Europe, and it was proposed to build a railway 
between Mombasa and Lake Victoria Nyanza. A sum of 
money was voted by Parliament to enable the Company 
to make a preliminary survey, and Captain, now Major, 
Macdonald, R.E., was put in charge of it. But, mean- 
while, all the troubles in Uganda had put the Company 
410 




G.Pluli.p i, Son. 



MAP OF UGANDA. 



This map shows the different Provinces of Uganda, each Province 
being ruled by a distinct chief, who takes his title from his Province. 

Sir Gerald Portal settled the Catholics and the Protestants in 
separate Provinces, Buddu and the Sesse Islands being assigned to 
the Catholics. 



UGANDA 

to expense which it was not able to bear any longer ; it 
therefore in 1892 declared its intention to evacuate the 
country. This could only mean the certainty of massacre 
for all the missionaries, and of anarchy and ruin for 
Uganda. It was in these circumstances that the late 
Sir Gerald Portal was sent up to investigate the question 
and decide whether or not Her Majesty's Government 
should take over the administration of Uganda. He left 
Zanzibar on New Year's Day, 1893, accompanied by 
Colonel Rhodes, Major Owen, his brother, and Lieutenants 
Arthur and Villiers. Captain Macdonald, who had finished 
his railway survey, was also ordered to Uganda. Sir 
Gerald's orders were merely to study and report on the 
situation, but he found it such that to avoid a new 
revolution he had to settle a number of questions on his 
own initiative. He began by making considerable con- 
cessions to the Catholics. Two new provinces as well 
as the island of Sesse were added to their territory, and 
a Catholic Katikiro, a Catholic commander-in-chief, and 
a Catholic admiral were created side by side with the 
Protestant officers of the same rank. The Catholics 
were also given a belt of territory leading from their 
sphere to the capital. My opinion is that these con- 
cessions did them full justice. The next question to be 
settled concerned the Soudanese soldiers. These were 
placed under the command of Major Owen, assisted by 
the English officers who had come with the Commission, 
although Selim Bey remained in nominal authority. But 
Sir Gerald Portal had hardly left when Captain Macdonald 
discovered a new Mahomedan plot, in which it was clearly 
proved that Selim Bey had promised his help to the rebels. 
He was arrested, and the Soudanese stationed at Kampala 
were disarmed. The Waganda Protestants and some of 
the Catholics were then enlisted to drive out the Mahome- 
dans, and after these had been defeated by Major Owen 
near Lake Albert Edward, they dispersed either to Unyoro, 
or across the Kagera into German territory. 
413 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

I should say here a few words about Major Owen. To 
the majority of his countrymen he was known only as 
a brilliant steeplechase rider. If he had lived I think he 
would have been as well known as a great general and a 
ruler of men. As soon as he reached Uganda he was 
sent by Sir Gerald Portal to organize the Soudanese who 
had been left in the forts south of Unyoro by Captain 
Lugard. These men, with their families and slaves, made 




RODDY OWEN. 



Up several thousand souls. Left to themselves for many 
months they had lost all notion of discipline, and lived 
by making raids into the territory round their forts. 
Their nominal chiefs were the same officers wlio had 
mutinied against Emin and put him in chains. From the 
first moment of his arrival among this turbulent horde 
Major Owen showed them that they had at last a master. 
He stopped their raids and conciliated the native chiefs 
round the forts. He was next confronted by a plot 
originated by the rebel Mahomedans, who, driven out of 
414 



UGANDA 

Uganda by Captain Macdonald, had collected in great 
force around the frontier forts. With these the Egyptian 
officers, who had not been re-enlisted by Major Owen on 
his arrival, but had been allowed to remain in the forts, 
conspired to seize him as a hostage and then join the 
rebels. The presence of mind of Major Owen frustrated 
this design ; he called the ringleader — an Egyptian officer 
who had not been re-enlisted — and told him that, having 
heard of a plot, he had appointed him in command of the 
forts; he further told the surprised conspirator that of course 
now that he was in command he was one of the Queen's 
soldiers and responsible for the good behaviour of the men, 
and also for the safety of the magazine. In case anything 
happened to him (Major Owen) there were plenty more 
officers in Uganda who would come and make the 
responsible commander pay for his crime. The man was 
so impressed that he not only remained loyal but declined 
to give the keys of the magazine to his fellow con- 
spirators. The Major then called out the troops and asked 
them if they were ready to fight the Mahomedans. They 
swore they were anxious to do so, and immediately Major 
Owen took them to fight the rebel Mahomedans and 
completely routed them. The day before this battle he 
had received orders to evacuate the forts, without any 
instructions relative to the Mahomedan rebels. At the 
same moment small-pox broke out in the Waganda army 
that had followed the Mahomedans, and Kabarega, King of 
Unyoro, attacked the western forts. As no instructions 
had reached him, Major Owen made an armistice with 
the rebels and decided to take them back to Uganda, 
holding their chiefs as hostages. On the way he met 
Captain Macdonald, but his negotiations with the chiefs 
of the Mahomedans were interrupted by their flight, all 
their people dispersing, partly into Unyoro and partly 
into the German sphere, as I have said. A certain 
number of them, however, who had taken no part in the 
rebellion, remained in Uganda. After this the Soudanese 
415 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

were partly enlisted as soldiers and partly sent down to 
the coast. At the moment of my arrival, Colonel Colvile, 
the Commissioner, who had taken over the administration 
on behalf of the Imperial Government, had decided to attack 
Kabarega. This chief had continued his aggressions on 
Uganda, carrying large numbers of its natives into slavery. 
To begin the campaign it was decided that Major Owen 
should attack Chiccaculi, . the nearest and most powerful 
of Kabarega's chiefs. I had met Owen at Ntebe imme- 
diately on my arrival, and subsequently accompanied him 
to Kampala, which was then the seat of government ; 
I obtained from Colonel Colvile permission to follow his 
expedition. 

Before leaving Kampala I accompanied Colonel Colvile 
to an interesting ceremony at the court of King Mwanga. 
We went to what I suppose I must call the palace, 
with an escort of fifty soldiers. After passing through 
a series of very dirty courtyards we reached another, 
some 60 feet in diameter, at the end of which was the 
audience hall. At its entrance there were, drawn up in 
two more or less straight lines, a score of ragged 
Waganda. This was Mwanga's guard of honour. The 
audience hall is a large hut, supported by high wooden 
pillars, those nearest the King being covered with bark 
cloth up to the height of a man. The King was seated 
on a throne, which had been presented to him by the East 
Africa Company. It was surmounted by a crown, and 
decorated with a sun, under which was the slightly 
inapposite motto, " light and liberty." The floor of the 
hall was covered with a thick bed of fine grass, and before 
the King was a Turkish carpet. In the old days, before 
the advent of " light and liberty," any native who had the 
misfortune to touch this carpet with his toe was imme- 
diately executed. On the left of His Majesty, on a gilt 
chair, was the principal Katikiro, attired in a fancy 
uniform with gold frogs. All round the hall were native 
chairs for the principal dignitaries of the kingdom. 
416 



UGANDA 

Mwanga is of middle height, with a small beard, and 
his countenance does not radiate intelligence. Roguery 
is written plainly all over his face, and the addition of 
large sensual lips does not enhance the beauty of his 
appearance. After the presentations had been made by 
Captain Macdonald, the Colonel delivered a short speech : 




12 3 4 5 

(i) Capt. iSIacdonaia. (2) Capt. Gibb. (3) Col. Colvile. 
(4) Major Owen. (5) Lieut. Arthur. 

mwanga's council hall. 



" I have been sent by the Government to take up the 
administration of this country. I come as a friend. I 
intend to administer justice with the greatest impartiality, 
whether it concerns Catholics, Protestants, or those who 
belong to the old religion, the highest in the kingdom " 
(here Mwanga did not look up) " or the lowest. I hope 
that the Kabaka (King) will do all he can to aid me in 
my task." Mwanga replied, " It is well ; I am satisfied." 
After discussing several subjects of no importance we 
retired. Before we went away the Colonel gave His 
2 E 417 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

Majesty to understand that I desired to take his photo- 
^f^raph. He professed to be quite willing, but refused to 
budge from his throne to come to the door of the 
audience chamber, on the pretext that the sun was too 
strong for him. As a matter of fact there was no sun 
at all : his real reason was that he did not wish to be 
photographed with all the British officers and soldiers 
about his palace. 

Major Owen had a good deal of business to clear up 
at Kampala, so that we could not leave for Ntebe, whence 
our expedition was to start, until nearly four in the after- 
noon. The distance is rather over 20 miles. Before long 
it began to grow dark, and we could only go slowly. 
About nine o'clock we imagined we must be near our 
destination, but about a quarter of an hour later we had 
not the least idea where we were. Owen went on a little 
to reconnoitre, and presently called to me ; we were 
utterly lost. At last we found a hut, and with great 
difficulty woke up its occupants; but neither of us could 
make them understand what we wanted. At last one of 
the natives grasped the fact that he was to accompany us 
to Ntebe, whereon he immediately took to his heels. 
Owen pursued and caught him. He howled vigorously, 
and the women came out of the hut and added their yells 
to the alarm. In a few moments Owen returned with his 
captive, and we made him walk in front of us. He put us 
on the road, and then ran away for dear life ; two hours 
passed and still the fort had not appeared in sight. 
Meanwhile Owen's pony was done up, and we took turns 
wdth mine. Soon after eleven o'clock we entered a forest, 
where it was too dark to see your hand. We felt con- 
vinced that we were on the wrong road, but at last 
at midnight we saw the hill of Ntebe before us. Now 
there was a fresh difficulty. Owen's pony had the 
greatest difficulty in getting up the hill. Half-way up 
he absolutely declined to go any further, and I went 
on ahead to fetch an askari (native soldier). Reaching the 
418 





^^:^^^' 




„^,v-r-^ 



The Katikiro. 



Mwanga. 



MWANGA, KING OF UGANDA, 
AND THE KATIKIRO, HIS PRIME MINISTER. 



UGANDA 

village where the Soudanese soldiers lived, I saw what 
I thought to be two natives crouched about fifty paces in 
front of me. I called to them, but they did not move. 
I then advanced, and they began to crawl away on all 
fours along the palisade into the shade. I galloped after 
them, and all of a sudden my two natives emerged from 
the darkness and faced me in the full light of the moon. 
They were two fine leopards ! My horse whipped round 
in no time, and as I had not even a revolver with me 
I made no effort to restrain him. At last I managed to 
wake up the Soudanese, and at half-past twelve we were 
housed in the fort. 

Next morning — it was the 19th November — was spent 
in preparing the expedition, distributing loads to the 
porters, and similar necessary but unexciting duties. The 
whole afternoon was spent in getting men, loads, ponies, 
donkeys, oxen, and so on, across a small arm of the 
lake ; after which we went on to sleep at Kabunga's, 
about six miles distant. Next day we made a furious 
march of twelve hours across an abominable country. 
It began with a small swamp, followed by a series of 
hills, and then by a large swamp overgrown with papyrus, 
which took more than an hour to cross, with water up 
to our chests. Next came another series of hills covered 
with high grass, then at the foot of them another swamp, 
and then another hill, on which was the village of the 
chief Kitanbala ; we halted at half-past six, having 
had nothing to eat for twelve hours ; it was decidedly 
the most fatiguing day's march I had had in Africa. 
Next day we only went nine miles instead of the 
eighteen the indefatigable Owen had proposed to cover : 
but as there were three swamps to cross, and we en- 
countered a hailstorm with stones as big as bullets, nine 
miles was quite enough. On the 22nd the country was 
no better. There was the same alternation of marshes 
and hills covered with real forests of grass more than 
six feet in height. We reached Mukwenda's village in the 
421 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

afternoon, where we stopped at the EngHsh Mission. 
Mr. Fisher was in charge, and he welcomed us with first- 
class tea and delicious pancakes. Major Owen had about 
an hour's palaver with the chief, and then we made for 
Fort Raymond, so called in memory of Captain Raymond 
Portal, Sir Gerald's brother, who died on his return from 
Unyoro during the journey to Uganda. The fort had 
been erected by Major Owen himself, and considering the 
enormous quantity of other work he had to do at the 
same time, and the short time he was able to devote to the 
fort, the result did him great credit. It is built on a hill, 
whence there is a superb view over Lake Wamala. The 
stout palisade of palm trees was almost finished, and a 
certain number of provisional huts put up, while three tall 
palms in the middle of the fort broke the monotony of the 
general appearance of the place. The rest of the day was 
spent in organizing the 150 askaris who made up our 
expedition, forming them in sections, getting together the 
porters and passing their medical examination, which 
work devolved upon me, putting the Maxim in order, and 
so on. 

Next morning was devoted to completing these ar- 
rangements and distributing cartridges to the soldiers and 
carbines to the porters. Major Owen was indefatigable ; 
no officer could have had his heart so completely in his 
work, and he did not let the smallest detail escape his 
notice. At half-past twelve the caravan was off ; and 
at half-past three we came to the worst swamp I have 
ever seen — an arm of Lake Wamala, covered with papyrus, 
through which a way had been cut. For nearly two hours 
we waded with the water above our waists — a putrid and 
evil-smelling water, and horribly cold. Every moment we 
had to climb up a clump of papyrus roots, only to drop 
into a hole five feet deep at the next step. And yet I am 
bound to say that I preferred the water to the mud of 
the swamps we had crossed in the last few days, where I 
often got stuck up to the knees. The wading might have 
422 



UGANDA 

been avoided by crossing the lake in a canoe ; but that of 
course was impossible with an expedition like ours, which 
contained nearly 300 souls — if our men had any, which I 
sometimes doubted. 

Next day, November 24th, the aspect of the country 
changed. It undulated considerably, but without high 
hills. Except at rare intervals, the grass was not much 
more than eighteen inches high. We only crossed two 
small swamps ; and so easy is it to accustom oneself to 
anything that I no longer grumbled at having to splash 



LAKE WAMALA, FROM FORT RAYMOND. 

MUKWENDA. 

about in water up to the knees. I cannot say that I liked 
it ; but I had the most charming companions, and with 
such, small inconveniences are easily forgotten. 

On the march Major Owen was constantly drilling his 
men, who seemed to pick up what they were taught very 
quickly. We also tried the Maxim, and succeeded in 
making it work very well. Later on Owen went off to 
try and shoot some game to feed the men, who were on 
very short rations, as the villages could hardly furnish 
enough to feed so large a number; he returned, however, 
empty-handed. The more I saw of Owen the more im- 
pressed I was with his qualities as a soldier and as a man ; 
423 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

and the news of his untimely death, which reaches me 
as I write, has struck me, in spite of the short time I was 
with him, with a sense of personal loss. It is a loss to his 
country as well as to his friends that it would be difficult 
to over-estimate. 

We reckoned to attack Chiccaculi, a subordinate chief 
of Kabarega's, against whom we were marching, on the 
night of the 27th. If the native reports were correct 
we might look forward to a certain resistance, as he was 
said to have some thousands of men armed with breech- 
loaders. To avoid his getting aware of our intentions, we 
pushed on about nineteen miles on the 25th. The first 
part of the journey was through the same sort of country 
as that just described. We passed fresh spoor of in- 
numerable elephants along the track. At the end of 
three hours we entered upon a more mountainous region ; 
and after five hours' toilsome march arrived at Tshota, 
where we camped. Although the natives had been warned 
of our approach, they had not brought any food for the 
men at nine in the evening ; and as our poor fellows were 
dying of hunger. Major Owen sent a detachment in charge 
of an officer to cut bananas for them, with strict orders, 
however, not to spoil the trees, and not to take more 
than was really necessary. It may seem strange to those 
who do not know the country that the natives should 
be forced to find supplies. It must be remembered, how- 
ever, that when a Waganda army is on the march its 
track is one of universal pillage. The English officers, on 
' the other hand, not only pay for the supplies requisitioned, 
but give the most stringent orders, which I am bound 
to say are obeyed in a remarkable manner, not to cut 
a single tree or pluck a single leaf The natives, therefore, 
have hardly any reason to complain of their treatment. 
Now that I had come to know the country and the 
methods of the administration, I began to blush for my 
countryman, Monseigneur Hirth, whose insinuations against 
the British Government I could only think wantonly unjust. 
424 



UGANDA 

As we drew nearer to the frontier of Unyoro the country 
grew worse and worse. First we had to climb a high hill 
to get out of the valley where we had camped. We then 
crossed two rivers, the Nabugabe and the Nabutiti, after 
which we had another very high hill to climb. Then, after 
crossing a plateau, we descended along a kind of arete, and 
climbed again on to a higher plateau. It rained hard all 
day, and we reached the village of Kuruma, whence we 
were to start that night against Chiccaculi. Here we 
found the garrison of Fort Grant, which had been brought 
up the day before by Mr, Foster, a civil servant in charge 
of the fort. The chief of the village seemed to be in 
a thoroughly bad temper. Major Owen, who was very 
anxious to keep the object of the expedition secret until 
the last moment, interrogated him indirectly about Chic- 
caculi, with the following result. Our enemy, it seemed, 
was one of the most important, if not quite the most 
important, of Kabarega's subordinate chiefs ; he was the 
guardian of the frontier, and every one who wished to visit 
Kabarega had to pass through his country. If a caravan 
wanted to buy ivory it had to go to Chiccaculi, and he 
arranged the business on behalf of his master. He was , 
said to possess over 2000 guns, and his village was said to 
be about four hours' march from Kuruma. Our chief had 
previously expressed to Major Owen his willingness to 
show him the road if ever he meant to attack Chiccaculi, 
so we reckoned to take him as guide. Our force consisted 
of about 200 Soudanese armed with Remingtons, with 
100 rounds per man, as well as lOO porters with Snider 
carbines and twenty rounds ; also the Maxim, in whose 
working I had no very great confidence ; Villiers was 
in charge of the machine, and I was to assist him. To 
complicate matters, at eight in the evening Villiers was 
seized with a violent attack of fever. 

We started about ten o'clock that evening, guided by 
the chief of Kuruma, who had promised to take us to 
Chiccaculi's in four hours. The profoundest silence was 
425 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

observed. We marched all night through a rolling country 
without a single halt ; we had to wade through no less 
than seven swamps. The grass was very long, and we 
knew nothing of the enemy's movements. Soon after day- 
break we came in sight of a large and straggling village, 
the thatched roofs peeping out from the high grass and 
shrubs, with Chiccaculi's kraal standing out in the centre. 
The natives opened fire upon us instantly ; first spread- 
ing out in a long line, and then forming up in groups, 
sheltered by the tall grass. A good deal of desultory 
firing followed. Owing to the nature of the ground, the 
natives were able to rush up to within a few yards and 
open fire, and then rush back again. They do not seem to 
have any great confidence in their weapons ; and I am 
bound to say that the character of their shooting was not 
calculated to inspire it. However, our position was not a 
perfectly comfortable one. We were faced, as we after- 
wards learnt, by an army of some 3000 natives whom we 
could not see. Only from minute to minute could we 
discern a dark face peeping through the grass, or a gun 
barrel protruding from a clump of bush. Moreover, our 
men were pretty well done up by their forced marches, 
and besides they had little ammunition and no bayonets. 
The Maxim, the first time we tried to use it, jammed, and 
we could not get more than a dozen shots out of it during 
the whole day. Major Owen therefore forbade desultory 
firing on the part of his men, and only allowed volleys on 
the word of command. However, he would not permit 
his men to halt, but pressed on towards the stockade on 
the summit of the hill. 

When we were about a mile from the chief's village 
Major Owen decided to charge. Our best chance, con- 
sidering the state of our equipment, was to rush the 
position and frighten the natives. The charge was 
sounded, and with bugles calling and drums beating we 
dashed through reeds, having literally to cut our own 
path to the village. Major Owen led the force the whole 
426 



UGANDA 

time with great gallantry, even standing out alone many 
yards ahead of the advance guard, and cutting down the 
grass which impeded them. There was a slight eminence 
between our position and that of the enemy, and both 
sides, perceiving the advantage, made a simultaneous rush 
to gain it. We won the race by a few yards, and the 
enemy again fell back on the village ; without stopping we 
dashed on in pursuit, and when we had got in full charge 
within 150 yards of the enemy, they suddenly bolted. 
They had probably expected to see us sneaking through 
the grass in the native fashion, and our rapid advance 
with drums and bugles completely demoralized them. 
Major Owen ran into the village well ahead of everybody, 
and found it deserted and in flames. But for his gallantry 
and the rapidity and energy of his advance, the force 
would probably have been cut up. The general impres- 
sion in Uganda, I heard afterwards from Colonel Colvile, 
was that we should be "chewed up." We took a few 
prisoners in the village, but the main body of the 
enemy had made off, and it was impossible for our 
exhausted men to follow them ; they ran through the 
grass like deer. The elderly Maxim was by this time 
only in a condition to fire two shots at a time, which was 
doubtless as well for the enemy. Major Owen gave strict 
orders to the troops in no case to kill the prisoners, and to 
abstain from all unnecessary bloodshed. It was for this 
reason no doubt that the enemy's loss was comparatively 
small, considering their large numbers. However, seventy 
of them were killed, including six chiefs and Chiccaculi's 
son. However, this fight had very important results, as it 
destroyed Kabarega's self-confidence, and inspired great 
respect among the Waganda. It was due to this that 
Colonel Colvile was able to rally the whole nation when 
he made the main expedition against Unyoro. We had 
scarcely begun to pitch camp in the open space before the 
village, when the enemy once more attacked us from a hill 
commanding the position. Major Owen therefore decided 
427 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

to drive them away, and once more the fight was resumed. 
We captured the hill and then made for another one 
where the enemy had collected, and having driven them 
away from this fresh position we pitched camp at 3 p.m. 
Towards six o'clock we had to repel a fresh attack ; and 
we were so tired that Owen, Villiers, and myself went to 
sleep while we were eating our dinner. I cannot speak 
too highly of the pluck of Villiers, who fought the whole 
day while suffering from a violent attack of fever. 

I am glad of this opportunity publicly to thank Colonel 
Colvile for a most flattering letter he wrote to me after 
receiving Major Owen's report. He very kindly thanked 
me in the name of the British Government for the help 
I gave to the British force, but he much overrated the 
little I did and which I was so glad to be able to do. 

On the 29th we returned to Fort Grant, and next day 
Owen set to work to build a provisional bridge over the 
river Kunungori, which runs at the foot of the hill on 
which the fort stands, and forms the frontier between 
Unyoro and Uganda. The natives fired once or twice on 
our men as they worked, but without doing any damage. 
I spent the best part of the day examining and dressing 
the wounded and the sick, who were very many. Several 
of them had shocking ulcers on their feet produced by 
jiggers. 

On December ist Owen was on the point of leaving for 
Fort Lugard, when he heard from his spies that the 
Wanyoro were intending to attack us next day from two 
sides simultaneously. He decided therefore to remain 
until next day, and to leave part of his force at Fort 
Grant. He would then evacuate Fort Lugard and con- 
centrate all his men at Fort Grant, which he considered to 
be the starting-point for the invasion of Unyoro. As soon 
as the news of our expedition had been received at 
Kampala, the war drums would be beaten, and Colonel 
Colvile with all his force, and followed by such of the 
Waganda as could take the field, would start for Unyoro. 
428 



i 



UGANDA 

The anticipated attack did not take place, and at nine 
o'clock on the morning of the 2nd Owen and myself left 
for Fort Lugard, leaving Villiers in charge of Fort 
Grant. Following the high plateau on which the fort 
stands we gradually descended into a valley, which, 
unlike the country which we had been passing through, 
was thickly covered with bush and trees. We crossed 
the stream which forms the boundary of the provinces 
of Lwekula and Singo, and soon afterwards saw in the 
distance behind us a most magnificent cascade, which 
falls from a height of some 700 feet over the side 
of a hill. Mounting again from the valley we got a 
magnificent view over Unyoro, and discerned in the 
distance the river Kafui. After a six hours' march we 
reached Fort Lugard. Owen, with his usual energy, had 
built a bridge nearly a quarter of a mile long over the 
river Katumbi, beyond which the fort lies. It is built 
in an excellent position on a steep hill, and fifty men 
cotild defend it against an army. The rest of the day 
was spent in marching off all the garrison to Fort Grant. 
Next day we started through very difficult country to 
get back to Fort Raymond. For some reason or other 
I was thoroughly knocked up, and I am afraid I was 
rather a drag to Owen's energy. The most exasperating 
of my symptoms was that both hands were covered with 
ulcers caused by the bites of small flies that had rested 
on the ulcers of the sick men I had been dressing : 
a blister followed immediately after a bite, and two 
days later ulcers formed. We got to Fort Raymond 
on the seventh day, and Mr. Fisher, of the Mission at 
Mukwenda's, once more refreshed us with excellent tea. 
At the fort we got news from Kampala. Colonel Colvile 
had sent me two kind letters, of which I have already 
spoken. It seems that the Waganda had heard that 
Kabarega had concentrated his forces at Chiccaculi's, 
and they expected us to be devoured alive. Our victory 
therefore produced the best possible effect. The Colonel 
429 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

announced that he had officially declared war, and he 
expected to invade Unyoro with four or five hundred 
Soudanese, 5000 Waganda armed with firearms of one 
sort and another, and 15,000 spearmen. 

We stopped ten days at Fort Raymond, and I spent 
my time partly in my former business of looking after 
the sick, and partly in trying to get some game. 
One day we spent with Fisher duck shooting on the 
lake. The canoes of the country are simply hollowed 
out of tree trunks. We embarked in one of these, 
and after pushing through rushes for about two hours 
found ourselves among thousands of ducks. They are 
very wild here, and will never let the boat come within 
200 yards of them. However, Owen bagged half a dozen 
of them, and I shot a pelican with my Express. Another 
day Owen went buffalo shooting. He saw several, but 
could not get a shot. I also sent David with fifteen 
men on an elephant hunt. They found seven a day's 
march off, and wounded two ; but one of these made a 
charge, caught one of the Waganda, and, in the simple 
language of David, " beat him a little with his foot, and 
hurt him very much." A volley from the whole party 
drove him off, but he escaped uncaptured. 

The most interesting incident of these days was a 
Soudanese wedding, at which we were present, the bride- 
groom being one of the Soudanese officers. The cere- 
mony took place at eight in the evening, and was 
preceded by several hours' drum beating. A number 
of men danced to the drums, and from time to time 
a woman came forward and executed a dance which was 
not remarkable for its propriety. This took place outside 
the village. After half an hour the company advanced 
nearer to the hut where the marriage was to take place, and 
the dance recommenced. This was repeated several times 
until the company found itself in front of the hut. After 
ten minutes the bridegroom appeared, and soon four men 
were seen dashing through the crowd at full speed, bearing 
430 



UGANDA 

in their arms the bride, her head and whole body covered 
in a white cloak. They bore her into the courtyard of the 
bridegroom's hut — followed by the happy man himself — 
and put her down. Behind them the crowd made a con- 
fused rush, and almost threw down the palisade of the 
courtyard, making believe to try and rescue the bride from 
her ravishers. The women gave vent to the most violent 
clamour meanwhile ; but when the bride and bridegroom 
were together everybody retired from the hut, and recom- 
menced dancing, which lasted all night. 

On the 17th December Colonel Colvile arrived with 
his expedition at Fort Raymond. He was to leave for 
the frontier two days later. He had kindly given me leave 
to accompany him, but for several days I had been much 
exercised in my mind whether I ought to do so. I had 
now been so long in Africa that I thought a little Europe 
again would do me no harm. If I could get started 
for Mombasa about the middle or end of January I 
could get to the coast in April, and should be in England 
at the end of May at the latest, in time for the season. If 
I followed the operations against Kabarega there was no 
question of this. After a long conversation with the 
Colonel I came to the conclusion that, supposing I joined 
him, I could not expect to start for the coast until April. 
I therefore decided, with great regret, not to go with the 
expedition. 

They all started early in the morning of the 19th, 
and I walked with them five miles to the village of 
Lubanja. The expedition was commanded by Colonel 
Colvile, with Captain Macdonald (staff officer). Captain 
Thruston, Captain Arthur, the best fellow that ever lived 
(now representing H.M. Government in the Congo State), 
Dr. Moffat, and Mr. Purkiss. Major Owen, second in com- 
mand, had gone on ahead two days before. The force 
consisted of 500 askaris, some 300 porters, and 200 
followers of various sorts. They took with them a steel 
boat, which afterwards proved very useful on the Albert 
431 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

Nyanza, but which was a horrible drag on the march. The 
health of the Europeans of the expedition left much to 
be desired. The Colonel and Dr. Moffat were suffering 
from ulcerated feet, the result of the attacks of the jiggers. 
Arthur was covered with ulcers, Purkiss was just con- 
valescent from blackwater fever, Owen had a bad leg, 
and Villiers, who was to be picked up at Fort Grant, 
had been troubled with fever when I last saw him. As 
for myself, I still suffered with ulcers on the hands, 
and was unable to close them. However, they all went 
off in good spirits, and, as everyone now knows, so far 
triumphed over their constitutions that the expedition 
was completely successful. It was rather heart-breaking 
to see everybody go and to remain behind myself; but I 
had been in Africa long enough, and was beginning to 
feel very played out. 

I started for Kampala the next day and camped at 
Mukwenda's. I suffered all the time from a violent attack 
of fever which quite knocked me over. However, it passed 
in the evening, and next day I started, accompanied by 
twenty-six Soudanese women and seventeen Lindus, whom 
the Colonel was sending back to Kampala. An excellent 
road had been made by the chief, which, extraordinary 
to relate, did not pass through a single swamp. This 
brought me to Kinako, where I found Spire, Colonel 
Colvile's servant, and camped for the night. The 
Colonel had been obliged, by the way, to send Spire, 
as a European officer, to the station on Lake Victoria 
Nyanza to fetch things of various kinds from the south 
of the lake, as the Germans refused to let any canoes 
leave their shores unless accompanied by a European. 

At Kinako I heard news of the Waganda army. It was 
going to the front in two divisions — the Protestant and 
the Catholic ; a very curious result of missionary enter- 
prise which seemed hardly compatible with complete 
military efficiency. The Protestant army, accompanied 
by Mr. Pilkington the missionary, was about four or 
432 




SOUDANESE AND LINDU WOMEN. 



UGANDA 

five days' march ahead of the CathoHc. I was told that 
the Cathohcs had devastated all the country on their 
line of march, but I am bound to say that I still found 
enough food for my men. It was, however, to say the 
least of it, curious that the Catholics went this way instead 
of crossing their own provinces, and it hardly seemed the 
best way to avoid friction between the two parties. 

On the 27th we had a hard day's march through the 
usual swamps, the principal feature of which was the 
passage of the river Moanja. It is overgrown with 
papyrus, like all the streams in this part of the world, 
but is unfortunately deep in the middle — about six feet. 
A bridge had been built over it, but of course my donkey 
demolished the whole thing as soon as he set hoof on it ; 
and, instead of wading up to the knee, the porters who 
followed descended to the waist. The more people passed, 
the lower the bridge sank under water, until presently one 
of my men went up to the neck. It took an hour's work 
on the part of all my men to get the women and children 
over. We then followed the right bank of the river. 
It here flows towards the north between a succession of 
little hills, among which were marshy valleys covered 
with superb tropical forests. As my last pair of boots had 
lost their soles the day before, the passing of any difficult 
place was no joke. Moreover, as I was trying to cross a 
particularly muddy swamp on my donkey, that sagacious 
beast plunged up to the belly, and then fell on his side and 
shot me into the middle of the mud. 

The next day was like the preceding — the same kind of 
rivers, the same country, and very similar conduct on the 
part of the donkey ; otherwise it was only enlivened by 
an attempt of the women and of some of the porters to 
steal a heap of monkey nuts which were drying in the 
sun outside a hut They were duly chastised. 

On Christmas Eve I was so bad with fever that I could 
not start till one in the afternoon. My boots were in 
pieces, and it was not a pleasing reflection that I should 
435 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

have to march in them seven or eight hundred miles to 
the coast. However, we reached Kampala after a five 
hours' tramp, and on Christmas Day I dined with Gibb 
and Wise. Two bottles of champagne and a plum 
pudding ! 



436 



1 



CHAPTER XX. 

UGANDA AND ITS PEOPLE 

I REM A I NED at Kampala about six weeks, the first 
part of which was mainly taken up with fever, a 
legacy of the swamps of Unyoro. The time was not 
particularly eventful. I spent most of it putting my 
papers and such like in order, writing the many letters 
called forth by the fact that I was once more in touch 
with a certain kind of civilization, and observing the 
manners and customs of the natives. It was not perhaps 
a very high grade of civilization by which I was sur- 
rounded, and the postal facilities were the leading feature 
of it. My immediate environment may otherwise be 
judged of by two interesting cases which arose on the 
same day. One was an instance of sorcery among the 
Soudanese. One of the soldiers, happening to find himself 
ill, remembered that some time before he had woke up 
in the night and seen a naked woman looking at him. 
There could be no doubt therefore that she had bewitched 
him. She was promptly seized, and the next day was 
submitted to an ordeal. A sacred bean was cut in two, 
and half of it was given her to eat: if she was guilty she 
would fall dead. In the afternoon I asked what the result 
had been. " Oh," answered my informant, " she ate the 
bean, and she is dead. Then she was burnt, because 
otherwise she would have returned as a spirit." "But," I 
said, "did she not move at all while she was being 
burnt ? " " Oh, yes," was the answer ; " but only for just 
one moment." I need not say that the offenders were 
severely punished. 

437 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

The other case was that of a native who came to 
complain that another native went to his hut the day 
before, and told him he could give him a most astonishing 
medicine. He had only to hang it up in front of his hut, 
and then he could sleep quite quietly, for no one would 
go to rob him. He was highly delighted, and went ,to 
sleep like a top. In the morning he found that someone 
had made a hole in the wall of his hut, and robbed him 
of everything he possessed. He brought with him the 
sorcerer, who turned out to be the brother of the Catholic 
Katikiro. This gentleman did not deny the facts in the 
least ; he only pointed out that the medicine was not 
quite strong enough. Captain Gibb thereupon advised 
him to make some stronger medicine that would compel 
the thief to bring back the goods that had been stolen, 
or else he would have to go to prison till they were 
recovered. This time the medicine was quite efficacious, 
for the next morning, when the man who had been robbed 
woke up, he found in front of his hut the whole of the 
stolen property. Well, David often tells me, "Ah, master, 
people in Africa, whatever master thinks, can make very 
good medicine." This was a proof of it. 

Another case which arose while I was at Kampala was 
less amusing, but of considerable political importance. 
It concerned the niece of King Mwanga, aged three. 
She had been brought up in the King's palace, and as 
soon as she was able to speak had been tackled by the 
Protestant missionaries, with a view to securing her to 
their faith. The Catholic missionaries meanwhile had 
made no claim upon her; but some days before she had 
escaped the vigilance of her nurses, and walked abroad 
alone. She happened to stray to the Catholic Mission, 
and returned with a medallion round her neck. This 
grave event caused the greatest excitement between the 
Protestant party and the Catholics, who claimed the 
princess as a convert of their own Church. The case 
was submitted to Captain Gibb. He went into the 
438 



UGANDA AND ITS PEOPLE 

evidence with great care, and it was established that 
until the day of her unlucky straying the Catholics had 
made no attempt to secure her, whereas she had been 
several times interviewed by the Protestants. Captain 
Gibb therefore decided that she was to be regarded as 
a Protestant until she arrived at years of reason ; after- 
wards she was to be allowed to choose for herself A 
decision which was a great solace to the Evangelical 
party. 

While I am on the subject of Catholics and Protestants, 
I may remark that the claim made by the French fathers 
for compensation, on account of the losses they had 
suffered during the religious wars, though possibly justified 
in part, was most grossly exaggerated. For instance, 
they claimed 25,000 francs as compensation for their 
doctor; 75,000 for manuscripts and mission papers; and 
135,000 for wholly unspecified damages. They are en- 
titled to compensation, but iJ" 10,000 would be very liberal. 

The only other incidents of interest at Kampala were 
the arrival of Mr. Scott Elliot, on his mission to study 
the Natural History of Ruwenzori for the Royal Society, 
and numerous fires. In one of these the whole fort was 
nearly burnt down ; we had to pull down a good many 
huts and strip the thatch off others to save the fort itself: 
as it was, only the servants' quarters were destroyed. 

I shall now put down what I was able to learn about 
the Waganda. Perhaps the most characteristic feature 
is their elaborate mythology, which is almost on a Greek 
or Indian scale. The oldest of all the gods was Katonda, 
who was not born of woman. Kulanda, a kindred word, 
it is to be observed, means to create. His son was Kintu, 
the founder of the Waganda race, who came from the 
north ; his capital was Magonga. The wife of Kintu was 
named Matu, and their son was Tshua. When the god 
appeared on earth from above he had only his wife and 
a fowl with him. Matu had forgotten the fowl's food, and 
went back to heaven to fetch it. Whereon Katondn, the 
439 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

creator, said, " For having forgotten the food I give you 
death," and accordingly she brought back death with her 
to earth. 

The god most honoured after Kintu is Mokasa, who 
gave the human race the power of bearing offspring, with 
his brothers Musoke and Kiboka, and Linda, son of 
Musoke. These were all great chiefs, and became gods 
after their death. Mokasa is also the god of the lake, 
on which he had his capital : a temple was built to him 
on one of the islands. He is worshipped by the Wanyoro 
and Basiwa, as well as the Waganda. Kiboka is the war 
god ; Nayaonie, the rain or food god ; Kitinda, the god 
of the Nile. There are numerous other personalities — 
brothers, sons, and the like — in the Waganda mythology, 
but they are of less importance. 

The chief, as I have said already, is called the Kabaka ; 
he is chosen out of the royal family by three principal 
chiefs. He has unrestricted power of life and death, and 
in old times used to exercise it pretty freely. His Prime 
Minister is the Katikiro, and under him come the chiefs 
of the various provinces. These various chiefs form 
a judicial hierarchy. Supposing a poor man has any- 
thing to complain of, he brings his case first before his 
master. If he is dissatisfied with his master's decision, 
he takes the matter to the chief of his own or another 
province, giving him goats by way of a fee. If dis- 
satisfied again, he has to appeal to the Katikiro ; and 
if still dissatisfied, to the King himself The King judges 
all important cases in person. Only three people in the 
kingdom are considered as having the title of royalty. 
These are the Kabaka ; the Namasole, his mother ; and 
the Lubuga, his sister. These two latter have elaborate 
households on almost the same scale as the King's, whose 
officers I shall enumerate in a moment ; they and two 
sisters of the Queen Mother (called Nabikande and 
Bayumba) are the only women who can hold land, with 
the exception of a lady called 'Nganda, who has care of 
440 



UGANDA AND ITS PEOPLE 

all children of the sisters of the King. The King's own 
children are committed to the charge of the Nabikande, 
the King's aunt. 

The household of the King is most elaborate, and even 
bewildering. I was able to get together a list of the chief 
officers, with their functions, which is as follows — 

The chief of the household is called the Lubadu. His 
duties are a trifle mixed, as he combines the functions 





ONE OF THE KING S PALACES. 

of the Archbishop of Canterbury and Physician to the 
Royal Household : he is to tell the King when offerings 
are to be made to the gods, and look after the health 
of the King's women. My friend Mukwenda occupies 
the honourable position of Labagabo, or armour-bearer 
to the King. Other ceremonial officers are the Musale,* 
who goes in front of the King in case of war, acting as the 

* All these names, Mukweitda, Musale, Pokino, etc., are the names of the 
various provinces of which the high officers of the King's household are 
chiefs or governors. 

441 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

herald ; and the Waluyembe, who carries the sacred 
medicine horns. Three officers are employed to build 
houses, fences, and the like every three or four months, 
so that probably they find plenty of work to occupy them. 
One of these gentlemen, Pokino by name, commanded 
the Catholic army in Colonel Colvile's expedition. A 
chief of the name of Kangoo is Mugosi. His interesting 
duty is to construct the King's sepulchre. This task 
is begun as soon as the King comes to the throne, and 
the sepulchre is built in the house where his principal wife 
lives. Mugema is a very important chief, and goes by 
the title of Katiwe wa Kabaka, or father of the King. 
His business is to keep in order the sepulchre of His 
Majesty's predecessor. Another interesting function is 
Kosju's, who has charge of the King's brothers, who are 
kept in prison. The last two are among the principal 
chiefs, and have the election of the Kabaka in their hands. 
The third elector is the Katikiro. Among other officers 
is the Musigiri : if the King leaves his capital for a short 
time this functionar}^ takes his place ; while it is to him 
that a chief, or even a commoner, must prefer any 
complaint he has against the King. Then, again, there 
is the Commander-in-Chief— very characteristically, he 
only commands in time of peace, while for war the King 
appoints a special general. Then come the Chief Cook, 
the Cup-bearer, the Lord High Executioner (who goes by 
the sufficiently terrifying name of Mutanan-Yangamba), 
with two Chief Executioners under him. 

Subordinate to all these are any number of sub-chiefs ; 
and each province is ruled by a Governor (Bamasasa), 
under the direction of the Kabaka. It is, as I have said, 
from among these governors that the high officers of the 
royal household are chosen. A chief has power to in- 
flict capital punishment for the crimes of theft, adultery, 
or breaking some of his furniture. The penalty is inflicted 
by severing the vertebral column with a knife, and then 
cutting off" the head. 

442 



UGANDA AND ITS PEOPLE 

Witchcraft and cowardice in war are punishable by 
burning alive : though I do not gather that the latter 
offence is very strictly enquired into. A punishment only 
one grade less severe is mutilation of the eyes, nose, ears, 
or lips. When a new King succeeds he appoints new 
officers — a change of cabinet, so to speak. 

The Waganda nation is divided into clans, each of 
which goes by the name of an animal, which is its totem. 
This animal may not be eaten by members of its own 
clan ; for instance, a man who belongs to the Buffalo clan, 
and keeps cattle, will never eat a black ox or cow. Other 
clans are named after the grasshopper, the beaver (this 
is Mwanga's clan, while the Katikiro's is a grasshopper), 
fish, lizard ; and in the Sesse Islands, a crocodile. No 
man can marry in his own clan. 

I come now to the daily life of the people. Their 
clothes usually consist of bark-cloth, of which there are 
three kinds, one of superior quality, one commoner, and 
one used only at night. It is made in the following 
way. A kind of fig tree used for the purpose and named 
Mituba is first stripped of its bark ; the upper layer of 
this is employed for common stuff, while the inner layer is 
made into the better qualities. After the bark has been 
stripped off, the tree is wrapped round with banana leaves, 
and in less than a year the bark has grown again. The 
bark itself is beaten hard on the first day with a short thick- 
headed mallet on a piece of dry wood. The stuff is then 
exposed to the sun, and then beaten with a mallet whose 
head is cut in grooves. The different pieces are then 
sewn together with banana fibre with coarse native needles. 
If the stuff has any holes in it they are sewn together, 
and then the edges are lightly hammered to make them 
close. When made, the cloth is dyed by means of wood 
of three kinds, and is perfumed by placing it on sticks 
above a fire of a wood called mogavu. The garment 
of bark-cloth is called lubogo. It is worn by the men 
fastened on the right shoulder, and by the women rolled 
443 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

round the body, and fastened with a girdle about the 
waist. Even the women of the highest rank wear no 
outer garment except of bark-cloth ; but below it some 
of the very fashionable have stuffs of European manu- 
facture. Girls do not wear this dress until the age of 
sixteen. Before that age they only wear a girdle made 
either of beads or of wreaths. The lubogo is buried with 
its proprietor ; the old garments are given to his slaves. 
Sandals are made of buffalo hide, which is tanned by 
first burying it for six days ; it has then to be beaten 
for two days before it has got its right shape : these 
sandals are hollow and ornamented with neat designs. 
The straps are usually made of otter skin ; the King 
alone has straps of leopard skin for his shoes. These 
sandals are hardly ever used except by people of the 
highest class. The ornamentations on the leather are first 
of all traced out with a piece of iron, and then coloured 
with a stick dipped in a mixture of red potter's clay and 
water. Ornaments are very rare, and nothing is worn 
in the ears. Copper or iron bracelets may occasionally 
be seen, but these are about all. 

Each family has its own dwelling-place, surrounded by 
its own banana plantation. The people of the lower class 
have one hut for sleeping and a smaller one for cooking ; 
they eat in the open air. The abodes of the chiefs are 
more elaborate, consisting of a sleeping hut (kisulo), a 
kitchen, and a house for their women. Very exalted people 
have a house for each of their women, and the female 
slaves sleep in the same house as their mistress. All 
these are surrounded by high rush fences. Outside these 
again, in the case of important chiefs, is the audience 
chamber (kigango). The floor is covered in all cases 
with fine grass. The beds of the poorer people are 
made of short piles planted in the earth and covered 
with papyrus branches ; those of the upper classes are 
real beds made of interlaced strips of leather, and the 
great chiefs have also straw mattresses. 
444 



UGANDA AND ITS PEOPLE 

Marriage, as is usual in Africa, is mainly a question 
of purchase. When a man sees a woman who pleases 
him, he tells her he would like to marry her, and if she 
is willing he goes to her father. If the father consents, 
he names his daughter's price. Among the peasants 
the customary price is fifteen gourds of beer, a basket 
of salt, one bark-cloth "lubogo," looo shells* (simbi), and 
a goat. When the payment is made, the day is fixed 
for the husband to take delivery of the article. He 
comes with his friends to the father's village and stops 
outside the hut. The father comes out, and the bride- 
groom says to him, " I have come for my wife." If it 
should be thundering or raining, the father answers, " My 
daughter cannot go with you ; the weather is not favour- 
able." If it is fine he says simply — what in the former 
case he adds to his first speech — " What have you brought 
me ? I cannot let my daughter go without a little beer 
to drown my sorrow in the midst of my friends." Thereon 
the wooer produces three or four gourds of beer. The 
girl is then brought by her mother, who has first washed 
her with a native sponge and clothed her in a new 
lubogo. The girl, at the sight of her husband, begins to 
weep, and her father loads him with reproaches. " There 
she is ; take her," he says, adding that he is a churl, that 
he has not paid him enough, and similar compliments. 
The girl cries all the time, and says, " Oh, mother, you 
have sold me." One of the husband's friends then takes 
her up astride of his shoulders! and carries her off, the 
father sending with her her youngest sister as an attendant ; 
she remains three days with the bride and then returns to 
her father, having received as a present a lubogo and some 
shells. The husband gives his friends a goat, on which they 

* Shells (cowries) have been introduced as currency by the Arabs. Two 
hundred to two hundred and fifty go to a rupee. 

t This mode of riding is considered a high honour. Before horses had 
been introduced into Uganda the King and his mother never walked, but always 
went about perched astride the shoulders of a slave — a most ludicrous sight. 
In this way they often travelled hundreds of miles. 

445 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

feast. The bride does not speak to her husband during the 
first three days, nor does she go abroad. If for any reason 
she is obHged to leave the hut, she covers her head with 
her lubogo, and is led by an old woman, whose duty is 
to warn off any man they may meet. On the fourth 
day the husband gives his wife a goat, which she kills and 
cooks for him ; she may then speak. All her friends come 
to visit her after that, the visit lasting two days. They 
bring with them a present ; if they fail to do so, the bride 
does not speak to them. On the seventh day her mother 
comes to see her, but leaves the same day. On the 
eighth she goes herself to see her father, and returns 
with fowls and bananas ; these she cooks and serves 
to her husband, and the ceremony is then complete. 

Unmarried people are not allowed to possess land, but 
on marriage the man goes to the chief, who gives him a 
garden, in return for which he has to do such work 
as building the chief's house or mending his fences if 
called upon. The chief can evict him at pleasure, and 
similarly the tenant can leave at any moment that suits 
him. 

The funeral ceremonies are as elaborate as those con- 
nected with marriage, especially in the case of chiefs or 
their womenkind. After death the body is straightened 
out and wrapped up in bark-cloth. With it they bury 
a number of cloths; for a big chief the number of the.se 
cloths is anything from 200 to 3000;* for a peasant fifty 
is enough, while the body of a slave is merely thrown 
into a swamp. A chief's body is always embalmed ; his 
widows have to squeeze out all the juices from the body 
for a space of thirty or forty days. During the whole of 
this time his relations neither wash nor cut their hair or 
nails. They wear only rags of bark-cloth, and under this 
next their skin a girdle of green banana leaves. As 
soon as one girdle is dry they put on another. Tomtoms 
are incessantly beaten, and the relatives spend most of 

* When Mtesa died over ;^io,ooo worth of cloth was buried with him. 
446 



w-i|:^ 



■i 





UGANDA AND ITS PEOPLE 

their time in weeping and wailing. The body is carried 
to the grave on a stretcher, and men and women aUke 
follow it. For an ordinary chief the grave is as much 
as ten feet deep. It is dug in an open space, on a hill 
if possible, and a house is built over it. The grave is 
first lined with bark-cloth three feet deep, then the body 
is put in, and the hole is filled up to within a yard of the 
surface with more bark -cloths. In this way, it will be 
seen, there is no extraordinary difficulty in getting rid of 
a couple of thousand or so. No ornaments, or weapons, 
or anything of the kind are buried with the body. In the 
case of a chief, women and slaves remain for a time in 
the hut built above the grave. Some twenty days after 
the funeral the dead man's successor is brought before 
the King and formally recognized. He then returns 
with his people to his father's house ; beer is made 
and drunk all night to the accompaniment of drum 
beating. Next day the new chief takes his father's 
weapons, and standing on the threshold is publicly 
recognized by his people. The oldest relative of his 
father approaches him and clothes him with the lubogo, 
and his relatives each bring him one shell apiece. These 
are strung together and wound round his arm ; if there 
are any over they are placed on the bark-cloth on which 
he is sitting. The question of the disposal of his pre- 
decessor's wives then arises. Half are washed and taken 
to the King ; of the remaining half, all that have borne 
children are set apart to guard the grave ; * the rest the 
new chief takes to himself There is then a great feast 
by way of termination to the period of mourning. The 
father usually chooses his successor from among his 
sons in his own lifetime, but the family can overrule this 
choice and appoint another son ; women have no voice in 
the matter. The ceremonies and customs of succession 

* Departed kings retain the whole of their household ; food is cooked and 
deposited daily on the grave, and every month a great "baraza" (levee) is 
held in front of it. 

2 G 449 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

are similar in the case of the common people, but of 
course on a smaller scale. 

There are several kinds of ordeal in force in Uganda, 
but since the British occupation these have been naturally- 
repressed as far as possible. One of them was the familiar 
device of taking muavi ; the party who could not get up 
after drinking it was guilty. At other times a spade was 
heated and passed over the legs of accuser and accused ; 
the man whose skin came off was in the wrong. Another 
method was to put fire in a pot and apply it to the chest ; 
if it made a blister and stuck where it was like a cupping- 
glass, the man was guilty. 

Of the industries of the Waganda, agriculture is natu- 
rally the most important. The cultivators or peasants 
are called bakobi. The only implement they use is a spade, 
which is worth 250 simbi (shells). The plants cultivated 
are very numerous, comprising bananas, sweet potatoes, 
Indian corn, cassava, peas, beans, a root called mayuni, 
monkey nuts, millet, wheat, another small kind of red 
millet called wimbi, rice, tobacco, gourds, and vegetable 
marrows of various sorts. They begin to prepare the 
ground in February and sow in March. The crops are 
ready for harvesting in three months. In September a 
second crop is planted. To keep down weeds they 
strew the ground with banana leaves. Bananas them- 
selves appear in eighteen months. They are planted in 
rotation so as to have some always in yield. Bananas 
are the staple food of the country ; they are eaten 
green, and are cooked as I have described in a previous 
chapter. Their fruits are wild dates, a kind of plum 
called unsali, the wild fruit of the incense tree, and the 
wild plantain. 

Weaving is unknown, but the Waganda make various 
kinds of rope with banana fibre, papyrus, and certain 
leaves. To make fast the rushes used for fences and 
houses they bind them wi^th strips of banana bark. They 
are very clever at working leather, as I have already said, 
450 



UGANDA AND ITS PEOPLE 

rubbing it after it is dry with stones, and afterwards 
rolling it in their hands to make it supple. 

Pottery is the art of special artisans called babumbi. 
A large pot takes two days to make, and is reshaped 
four times on each day. When the shape is perfect it 
is scraped over with a small piece of wood. Designs 
are made by running a four-pronged stick over the surface. 
To bake the pots they put them on four stones, placing 
a large number together. They then light dry grass 
on the ground, and when it is well alight pile up more 
dry grass and leaves all over the pots until they are 
wholly covered by a glowing fire. 



451 



CHAPTER XXI. 

FROM UGANDA TO KIKUYU 

WHEN I left Colonel Colvile at Mukvvenda's he pointed 
out to me that I should have much difficulty in 
finding porters to go to the coast, and therefore offered 
to lend me some, as he had a good many men whose time 
was up and whom he would have to send back. He also 
enquired about the number of guns I had, and finding 
out that I possessed but a few, he gave orders for fifty 
Snider carbines to be lent to me, and also promised to give 
me an armed escort of twenty men, as the Masai country 
was still unsettled, and it was not wise to cross it without a 
well-armed party. In return he asked me to take charge 
of his mails. 

My own party consisted of the faithful David, who by 
this time had become my Katikiro — Prime Minister; 
Inyarugwe, the little Senga slave who had been given to 
me by Matakania, the Portuguese Capitao-Mor of Zumbo ; 
and Malainga, the little slave paid to me by the Wahha as 
a ransom for their chief. I have since brought this little 
family to England, and all three of them have given me the 
utmost satisfaction. David, as I have already said, has 
travelled all over Europe with me and has since accom- 
panied me twice to Africa ; Inyarugwe, who was constantly 
suffering from fever in Africa, has never been ill since he 
came to Europe ; and little Malainga has lately passed the 
fifth standard after two years' schooling. They are all 
perfectly happy, and although I had been warned that they 
would soon get spoiled, I found them quite the reverse, and, 
452 




INYARUGWE AND SABAO 
{Tiuo of my Zambezi children). 



FROM UGANDA TO KIKUYU 

what is rare in an African native, each one of them has 
appreciated the kindness shown him; although Miss Burns 
has done her best to spoil little Malai'nga, he simply 
worships her — as does everyone who knows her, I may add. 
Among my faithful followers were also Wana Omari, who 
had come with me from Jumbe's, on Lake Nyasa ; Ambali, 
a Zanzibari I had engaged at Ujiji; besides about twenty 
of my old Wanyamwezi porters, who had been promoted 
to the rank of askari (soldiers) and acted as my body- 
guard. I had given them four hours' drill every day since 
I had arrived in Uganda, and Major Owen was much 
struck with their efficiency. Besides these, I had twenty 
askari and fifty porters lent to me by Colonel Colvile, 
sixteen men of the postal caravan, and twenty men I had 
engaged myself in Uganda. Shortly after his arrival Scott • 
Elliot had made up his mind to get rid of his headman 
and of some forty porters, whom he asked me to take to 
the coast, warning me that they were a bad lot — absolutely 
unmanageable, — but I had no fear in that respect, knowing 
well that I should soon knock them into shape. Having 
gathered all my force together, I explained to them what I 
expected from them : " There are a few things," I said, 
" that I want you to bear in mind : so long as you do 
your work well and obey my orders you will find Mpanda 
Chalo (my native name) a good master. If any one of 
you is ill or finds himself in trouble, come to me and I 
will look after you. But if you disobey orders, if you 
steal anything either from your comrades or from the 
natives among whom we pass, you will be punished with 
the utmost severity. Every day I want the camp to be 
properly laid, and when the drums are beaten every man 
must fall in into his own appointed place. Now a few among 
you have lately travelled with Bwana Mdudu — (the master 
of the insects — Mr, Scott Elliot's native name)— and 
because he has been too good to you, you took advantage 
of him. You had better not try the same game with me, 
as you will find Mpanda Chalo a very different master. 
455 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

As to you," I went on, turning towards the headmen, 
"remember that you are getting double pay and double 
rations, and, therefore, if you misbehave yourselves, you 
will get double punishment. I have but one thing to 
add : if a single one of you fires at a native and kills him 
without my orders, I will have him shot or hanged on the 
spot. That is all ; go to your quarters." The next two 
days were spent in distributing the loads, nearly forty of 
which consisted of curios I had collected since I had left 
Lake Nyasa* I also had a good lot of ivory I had 
purchased, and on which I lost some ^20. Then, having 
taken leave of the King and Katikiro, and bidden good- 
bye to the missionaries, who had shown me much kindness, 
on the 6th February I shook hands with Captain Gibb and 
Scott Elliot, and at last turned my steps towards the 
coast. 

That day we camped near a village only one hour's 
march from Kampala. 

There had been as yet no news from Colonel Colvile, 
and I was to wait in Usoga for twenty porters, already 
overdue, who were to bring the Colonel's mail from 
Unyoro. Captain Macdonald had most nobly given me 
a pair of boots, which caused me, however, considerable 
torture, and on the third day I had to give them up 
and walk in an old pair of shoes I had bought from 
a native. Some of the loads were too heavy, and it was 
a difficult question how I could carry the twenty-three 
days' food necessary for my men. On the second day 
I had, as is usually the case with new porters, to estab- 



* All these curios were presented by me to the French Museums — Musce 
ethnographique du Trocadero and Musetun d'histoire naturelle — but I am sorry 
to say that I have not yet had time to classify them. The cost and transport 
of these curios came to over £\QiOO, but I only received from the French 
Government 4000 francs (;i^i6o) towards the cost of the whole of my journey, 
and on my return I received no thanks and still less reward. If, following 
the example of one of my countrymen on the Niger, I had pretended that 
Colonel Colvile had tried to poison me, I should most likely, like this traveller, 
have been rewarded by a governorship. 
456 



FROM UGANDA TO KIKUYU 

lish my authority by punishing one of them for steaHng 
bananas from the natives. 

Several of my porters broke down on the third day ; but 
my anxieties on account of food were somewhat alleviated 
by the amiable chief Nansombo, who brought me a good 
supply of bananas for my men. I also had the luck to buy 
a saddle ox, who carried me magnificently : his only fault 
was that he was so fat that his skin rolled about on his 
back, and it required the skill of a circus rider to maintain 
a balance on him. The men, however, became worse and 
worse; on February lOth one of them deserted, and all 
were in bad condition. I needed at least twenty fresh 
ones before I could get started in earnest. 

I camped on the night of the loth at Kamanyro, in 
the midst of a hilly country covered with high grass, 
bush, and stones. Next morning I started for the Ripon 
Falls of the Nile. They consist of three cascades divided 
by small islands, whence the natives fish, spearing their 
prey with a sort of two-pronged harpoon. The current 
above the falls is most powerful, and the boats going to the 
small islands that stand between the different cascades 
are frequently carried away by the current ; this had 
happened the very day before. On the near banks of the 
falls, which are overlooked by steep hills some i6o ft. high, 
are a few huts where the native fishermen live ; the fish 
appear very numerous and are very large. At the foot of 
the falls swim large numbers of cormorants, while above 
them crocodiles and hippopotami are as plentiful as in 
the Shire itself During the day I shot a hippopotamus 
and two crocodiles. Wishing to send a letter to Mr. Grant, 
the official in charge of Usoga, asking him to send me 
boats to get my caravan over the river, I hired a native 
boat, but when my askari was about to step into it the 
boatmen rowed away and disappeared. I sent another 
askari to fetch the chief from whose village the boat came 
— a certain Molyoa ; nothing was heard of him till next 
morning, when his Katikiro arrived at half-past six. He 
457 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

asserted that it could not have been one of his boats 
that rowed away the previous day — after the boatmen 
had received payment — since Molyoa had no boats. 

" Very well," I said ; " by the way, did you not send 
me bananas yesterday ? " 

" Yes, certainly." 

" By boat, I believe ? " 

" Yes." 

" Then you told me a lie when you said the chief 
had no boats. I am going to keep you here until the 
owner of the boat comes here ; his name is Mfumbiro." 

"I do not know him." 

" I am sorry for it, because I shall be obliged to keep 
you until your memory comes back to you." 

Thereupon he decided to send his wife to the village 
with one of my soldiers to fetch the man. Presently 
the chief of the district on the other side of the river 
arrived with Molyoa himself I reported to Molyoa 
what had happened, but he said that he did not dare to 
send for some of his men unless I gave him two soldiers, 
for his people were " kali sana " (very bad) and would 
kill him. 

" What," said I, " a chief afraid of his people ? Well, 
then, I shall go myself." 

I started with four askaris in the boat that had brought 
the two chiefs ; but on the way I met a messenger from 
Grant, saying that he had heard of my arrival and was 
sorry he could not send me any boats, because all his own 
were away that day, but adding that he would send me 
some the next day to Lugumba, six hours' journey from 
the falls. I sent him a reply by the boat which had 
brought his letter : I said that I would come myself with 
the greater part of my baggage direct to his station at 
Lubwa's, sending my men and the rest of the baggage to 
Lugumba. I managed to hire six boats, the biggest of 
them belonging to the chief on the opposite side of the 
river, who had come to see me ; he asked me to let him 
458 



FROM UGANDA TO KIKUYU 

cross over to his own side, and promised to send back the 
boat immediately ; to make sure, I sent a soldier with him, 
bidding him return at once. Meanwhile the owner of 
the boat, who had vanished after being paid on the 
previous day, had at last turned up, and I asked him why 
he had behaved as he did. 

" Oh," he said, " a hippopotamus knocked a hole in my 
boat." 

" That is a lie," I replied. " I watched your boat all the 
time ; and if a hippopotamus had knocked a hole in it, 
you would very soon have come ashore instead of crossing 
the lake. Now you see you have told me a lie, and you 
have robbed me, and you deserve a punishment." 

" Yes, master, what can I do ? White men know every- 
thing ! " 

So I ordered the sergeant of the guard to give him 
twenty lashes. While this was going on I saw that the 
chief's boat, which had crossed the river, instead of return- 
ing as promised, was making off with my soldier. I 
waited an hour in vain, and as he did not return I got 
another boat and went after him, and found him nearly 
four miles away ; he said the people had told him they 
were going to fetch more men. 

" What were my orders ? " I asked him. 

" To return immediately." 

" Why did you disobey ? " 

" The people told me . . ." 

" Very well, you will be punished when we return to 
camp." 

As for the chief, who was standing by with a long face, 
I told him that I knew by the way his people behaved 
that he did not care for my orders, and that I should 
report him to Mr. Grant. He explained that if he beat 
his people, they threatened to kill him : this was a chief 
indeed ! 

" Very well," I said ; " I will inform Mr, Grant of that 
too." 

459 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

He besought me not to tell him : I answered that that 
would depend upon the future behaviour of his people. 
At last I brought the boat back, and after an hour's hard 
work got all the loads across ; but then, thanks to the un- 
speakable procrastination of the natives, it was too late 
to start, and I had to send a new messenger to Grant 
to ask him to have the boats sent to me here after all. 
They arrived the next afternoon ; but I required certain 
time to get them loaded, and was not able to start till 
evening. As it took four hours by water to reach Lubwa, 
I had to stop half-way so as not to arrive there in the 
middle of the night. I had the bad luck to get my tent 
pitched on the top of a nest of red ants which ate me 
up. It took an hour to get the packages ashore and count 
them all ; then, having set a guard for the night, I took 
a turn round the camp, which, including the boatmen, 
contained nearly 200 men. As I expected, I caught 
several of them in the act of stealing bananas, and 
presently a patrol which 1 sent out brought in five more 
with the stolen fruit in their hands. True to my promise, 
I punished them all on the spot Next day an hour 
and a half's row brought me to Lubwa Station, where 
I was most kindly received by Mr. Grant. The place 
was admirably kept and garrisoned by 100 askaris ; 
there were also a number of Soudanese, not enrolled, 
who had been allowed to settle down there. 

While I was at Lubwa's two missionaries came whose 
names I will not mention ; but I must mention their 
extraordinary conduct, to show how some of them imagine 
that every one ought to be at their orders. They were 
going to open a station in Kavirondo, and before leaving 
they asked Mr. Grant to keep some of their packages. 
He agreed, and they produced twenty-nine, for which they 
gave him a receipt to sign. This he refused to do unless 
they agreed to relieve Government of all responsibility 
with regard to them, as once before some other missionary 
made a heavy claim for some packages he had asked the 
460 



FROM UGANDA TO KIKUYU 

Company to keep for him as a matter of courtesy; these 
having been destroyed by a fire, he claimed their full 
value. When the things had all been stored in the 
magazine, they made Mr, Grant take them all out twice 
on the pretext that among them were some boxes they 
wanted to take away with them. They did not give 
themselves the trouble to take any part in this work, not 
even to look for the boxes in question. That evening Mr. 
Grant sent word to ask them to dinner. They replied 
through a native boy that if Grant wanted them to do him 
the honour of coming to dinner, he must ask them early in 
the morning. Another day Mr. Grant asked them to dine, 
and then sent to beg the loan of their table, his own being 
too small. Their reply, " Certainly not," was curt and to 
the point. I am bound to say that most of the colleagues 
of these fellows were absolutely different, but this shows 
how extremely disagreeable a churlish missionary can 
make himself 

I stayed at Lubwa's fort a fortnight, and during this 
time the chief came to pay me a visit. He was a fine old 
man and seemed very intelligent ; it was he who had Bishop 
Hannington killed, but he cannot be held responsible for 
this, as he was only acting under the orders of Mwanga, 
King of Uganda. Speaking of the death of Hannington, 
it is incorrect to imagine that he was killed near the Nile. 
As a matter of fact, Lubwa's village is nearly eight miles 
from the river as the crow flies, and two long days' 
journey by the path. 

Lubwa gave me some curious information about the 
government of Usoga. It is tributary to Uganda, and 
consists of a number of small states independent of one 
another. The chiefs of these are called Muami. At their 
death they are succeeded by their sons, but the chief 
himself designates the particular son who is to succeed. 
After the dead chief has been buried for some time his 
bones are dug up again. Anyone who has the misfortune 
to pass near the tomb while this operation is going on 
461 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

— man, woman, or child — must die. The skull and the 
larger bones are put aside, while the smaller ones are 
taken away to be used as drumsticks. When the chief's 
bones have been disinterred they are laid in a hut built 
specially for the purpose, upon a bed, and covered with 
fine bark-cloth ; then the drums are beaten with the small 
bones, and all the people chant that their chief has come 
back again. The reigning chief appoints a certain number 
of people to watch the hut and the bones. 

On February 28th Colonel Col- 

;^ "" * ,^ vile's mail arrived with the fresh 

^■C *^-., porters for whom I had been 

/ ' -.5^ waiting, and I started for the 

j long march of 1000 miles that 

./ separated me from the coast. 

> / Before leaving I collected the 

//' J food necessary for my men be- 

"J- tween Mumias and Kikuyu, a 

C twenty-five days' march, during 

which no villages are passed. 

Mr. Grant sent thirty Lindu to 

accompany me as far as Kavi- 

rondo, and help to carry the 

2000 lbs. of flour necessary to 

' feed my men. Two hours and 

LUBWA's KATiKiRo. ^ half of quick Walking brought 

us to Lubwa's village, where we 

camped. Lubwa treated me most handsomely, giving me 

two fine goats and a sheep. He also offered me a wife, 

to escape which effusive kindness I am afraid I falsely 

said that I was already married in my own country. Next 

morning we went on through a magnificent country and 

most luxuriant vegetation. Big trees were abundant, 

and among them was an almost uninterrupted succession 

of banana plantations. The villages, which are many, 

consist merely of a group of four or five huts erected in 

the middle of the plantations. The entrance to each 

462 



FROM UGANDA TO KIKUYU 

village is marked by a sort of porch made of a grass roof 
raised on sticks. There are huts for the gods in each 
village ; these are exactly like the Musimo huts found in 
the Wanyamwezi country, being surmounted by a pair of 
tall horns. We also found a pot buried at the junction 
of two roads, as among the same people. It would have 
been very interesting to trace the connection between 
these peoples, if any really exists, but I was not able to 
do so. The Usoga huts are built on the same model as 
those of Uganda. The entrance is only about three feet 
high and eighteen inches wide. 

There followed three more or less uneventful days, 
marked only by occasional petty thefts on the part of my 
men, and by one of the Lindu* breaking down. The 
headman in charge of the Lindu helped him on with cuts 
from a whip. To punish the brute I made him carry the 
sick man's load, I had to leave this man on the road, 
paying the chief of a village to take care of him. On the 
5 th March we entered Kavirondo ; the appearance of the 




THE ENTRANCE GATE OF A VILLAGE IN KAVIRONDO. 

country, the people, and the villages completely changed. 
Instead of the magnificent trees of Usoga we found un- 
dulating plains covered with grass, with here and there 
tufts of little trees marking a village. These villages 
consist of a few huts surrounded by a wall of earth ; round 
this wall is a ditch about 15 feet deep, and outside of it 

* The Lindu are a tribe coming from the N.W. of Lake Albert :-they had 
been enslaved by Emin's soldiers, and followed them when Captain Lugard 
removed them from Kavalli's. Their emancipation was considered a serious 
grievance by the Soudanese. 

463 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 




euphorbus and other trees grow. The villages are dirty 
and stinking; the people, on the other hand, superb. The 
men carry assegais with very long shafts and short heads. 
Men and women alike despise clothes, and go naked ; they 
cover their necks, arms, and legs with 
rings of iron wire, and wear smaller 
rings of copper wire in their ears, which 
shine in the sun, giving them a very 
curious appearance. Some of them 
wear on the forehead a crescent made 
out of hippopotamus tusk. Men and 
women alike are tall and well made, 
but they have especially large hands. 
The Wa Kavirondo pull out four or 
five of their lower front teeth by way 
of beautification ; the Wasoga and Masai 
only two. Unlike the people of Uganda 
and Usoga, they do not appear to culti- 
vate the banana much ; but I saw several 
fields of potatoes. The men work as 
hard as the women — a very rare phenomenon for Africa. 

The people of Kavirondo are great blacksmiths ; there 
is a large forge outside every village, where two or three 
men are always found at work, some making picks, others 
axes, or assegais ; they shape the object they want to 
manufacture on an anvil of stone, and finish it by stamping 
it with a little iron pestle ; while hammering they keep up 
a continual monotonous chant. The picks they make are 
like those of the Waganda, but smaller. 

On the night of the 5 th March hyaenas broke into 
the camp and carried off two goats. The sentinels fired 
on them, but without effect. I could not help thinking the 
next morning while my tent was being folded up, and I 
was breakfasting with mud above my ankles, how peculiar 
life is at times in Africa compared with our modern 
civilization. Who in Europe would ever think of camping 
in a newly-ploughed field after a week's rain ? I forgot to 
464 



MAN OF KAVIRONDO, 
PAINTED. 



FROM UGANDA TO KIKUYU 

say that since we left Lubwa's it had been raining hard 
every day. 

Crossing the river Scio (which took an hour, since the 
bridge had fallen to pieces), we took the direction of the 
Samia Mountains, on which we saw a great deal of game, 
mostly hartebeest ; we also found fresh spoor of 
elephants and buffaloes, but as we had to go on until we 
found water to camp by, I could not stop to go after them. 
We camped, after four and a half hours' march, by a hill, 
and were entertained in the evening by a concert of 
whistling frogs. I remembered the joy with which I had 
heard their strains in the Kalahari Desert when water had 
given out ; but here there was water, or at any rate mud, 
enough and to spare. 

Next day, after skirting the base of the mountains 
for some time, we entered a grassy region dotted with 
villages, surrounded by fine trees, and contrasting singu- 
larly with the bareness of the neighbouring country. The 
villages there were more important than those we had 
passed the previous day, and uncommonly well defended ; 
round each was a wall of earth nearly ten feet high, outside 
which a fosse more than fifteen feet deep and about ten 
feet broad had been dug. There were two small gates 
on each side of the village, and in front of them the ditch 
was interrupted by an earthen bridge about three feet 
wide, but at this point the wall was higher and some six 
feet thick. 

Next day (March 8th) we made our way towards 
the village of Mumia. Several of my men professed to 
know the way well, but as I thought they all took a 
wrong direction I steered myself by the compass, and to 
their great astonishment brought them straight to the 
goal. Captain Macdonald, I must say, had given me the 
large scale map of the railway survey, and its remarkable 
accuracy was of the greatest use to me. Before reaching 
the village we had to cross the river Nzoia, which was 
very swollen. It was impossible to ford it and to get my 
2 H 465 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 



1 50 men, their loads, and my beasts across the water, and 
I could find nothing but two of the most primitive canoes I 
had yet seen. They were made of a large tree-trunk, 
roughly hollowed out, but on the outside left absolutely 
in a state of nature. It took three hours of uninterrupted 
labour to get the whole caravan to the other side. We 
reached the village in the heaviest downpour I had yet 
seen in Africa : for the last few days it had been raining 
in torrents with hardly any interruption, and being quite 
done up I was very glad to spend the next day dealing 
out ten days' rations to my men. I had to watch my 
headmen measuring out more than 3000 cups of flour, 
and at the end of the day I was covered all over with a 
white cake of flour mixed with rain. I engaged six 
men at Mumia's to go all the way to the coast, and three 
more to accompany me for the next two days. It was 
only by this means that I could transport enough food 
for my whole company. On leaving Mumia's I had the 

good fortune to meet a 

%t^ m war party of Masai. There 

i) were about forty of them, 

returning from a raid : 

they belonged to Mumia, 

who employed them for the special 

purpose of raiding his neighbours. 

All of them were adorned with a 

crown of ostrich feathers, passing 

over the head and under the chin, 

and a cape of cock's feathers. 

Their weapons consisted of an 

assegai — absolutely different from 

those used by other natives ; the 

blade is about 2 ft. to 2 ft. 6 in. 

long, and 4 in. broad, the wooden 

shaft just long enough to allow the hand to grasp it, and 

the point of iron about 3 feet long — a knife, a knobkerry, 

and a shield. Their standard was an assegai, with a 

466 




A MASAI WARRIOR. 
(el nandi tribe.) 



FROM UGANDA TO KIKUYU 

bunch of ostrich plumes at the end. Some of them wore 
a small bell, shaped as a crescent and fastened round 
their calves, and some had their faces covered with a layer 
of ochre and fat. I have seldom seen a more picturesque 
company. They had been making war, I was told, to the 
west of Mount Elgon, of which we had had a magnificent 
view for the last few days. 

The people of this part of Kavirondo let their hair 
grow long, and roll it up in braids. Others cover their 
faces and body with a reddish earth, and adorn themselves 
by making tracings on it with their fingers. A favourite 
position of the Wa Kavirondo is standing on one leg, with 
the unoccupied foot resting on the other knee. They 
reminded me of large storks at rest. 

During these days there were the usual difficulties on 
the march — now porters missing, now loads lost, now a 
donkey left behind — of which I should imagine the reader 
has had enough by now. On the 13th, having crossed 
the Ningen mountains, we saw a number of antelopes 
at a considerable distance. As we were descending the 
next mountains, all of a sudden David cried out, " Master, 
a great beast down there." I looked, but saw nothing. 
The next moment I heard a roar, and the beast galloped 
up towards the summit of the hill. It was a superb old 
lion with a black mane. I started off after him, and had 
got half-way up when I saw in the many rocks above 
me, perhaps a quarter of a mile away, six lions more. I 
crawled towards them, followed by some of my men, but 
when we reached the rocks the lions had departed. We 
followed their tracks for nearly an hour, and saw any 
number of antelopes, but I did not wish to fire for fear 
of frightening the lions away. At the end of an hour I 
was forced, to my deep regret, to give up the chase. These 
were the first lions I had seen in Africa, except one a very 
long way off in the Kalahari, and I must say that a lion in 
a wild state is a most magnificent creature. While on 
the track of the lions I found fresh traces of rhinoceroses, 
467 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

so that I promised myself good sport for the future. 
All this happened about an hour from the river Guaso 
Masai, where we were to camp, and we had to push 
on through heavy showers of rain. 

Next day, March 14th, was a day to be remembered 
from a sporting point of view. I marched over four 
hours, and stalked for seven. Never have I seen so 
much game in one day. It was impossible to go ten 
minutes in any direction without coming on a herd of 
antelopes, mainly kongoni (Jackson's hartebeest). I shot 
one of these, a very fine hind, and two small gazelles 
{Thompsoni). I wounded three others, but could not follow 
them for fear of detaining the caravan too long. These 
beasts are very difficult to kill. My kongoni received 
the first bullet, which broke her shoulder, and despite 
that I had to follow her more than half a mile, and it 
needed two more bullets to finish her. One of the small 
gazelles received a shot which entirely opened her belly. 
Ypt she ran with her intestines dragging on the ground 
more than ten minutes, and it took a second shot to kill 
her. Half an hour after I had halted, and the men had 
begun to pitch the camp, I saw a herd of hartebeest about 
1500 yards away, on the opposite side of the river Nallaso- 
gewi. I started to stalk them, but the camp fires had 
frightened them, and I could not get near enough to 
shoot. I think it most disgraceful to fire at every animal 
one sees, when one knows that there is little or no chance of 
killing it : why should one inflict useless sufferings on the 
poor beasts .-' On the way I started an eland — or at any 
rate it looked like one — and a dozen gazelles, but could 
not get near enough for a shot. The country consisted of 
waving plains covered with grass and bush. We were 
rising gradually, and had by now reached an altitude of 
6200 feet. 

Next day we went on through the same kind of country, 
following the course of the river. Game continued to be 
extremely abundant, but very difficult to approach. At 



FROM UGANDA TO KIKUYU 

the end of five hours' march we were getting near to the 
spot where I reckoned to camp, when I saw a number 
of natives hiding in the distance. I halted to observe 
their movements, and one of them, seeing that I had 
noticed the party, approached within about 500 yards. I 
made my people hail him, and he asked that a single man 
should come towards him. I advanced immediately, but 
with one of my men who spoke Masai, and two askaris. 
The Masai, who was in war paint — face and body smeared 
with ochre — and carried his shield and spear — advanced 
towards me. At fifty paces he plucked some grass and held 
it in his hand. This was the sign of peace. When I came 
near him he stuck his spear in the ground, approached me, 
and held out his hand. When I put out mine to shake 
hands with him he spat in my open palm — the sign of 
friendship — and I returned the compliment. He then sat 
down behind his shield. It appeared that he was the 
" Hgonan " (captain). Soon he was joined by two other 
officers, but when others approached they were ordered 
back with an authority not to be disobeyed. He then 
proceeded to tell me an impossible story. A month 
before, he said, a Swahili caravan had come into his 
country and bought ivory, and thinking that we were 
the same caravan on the way back he had come to see 
if we would buy any more. I replied that I was a white 
man, that my caravan was the caravan of the great queen 
" Queeny," and that my flag was her flag. I had not 
come to buy ivory, but was going down to the coast. 
He then asked me to pay a " hongo," i.e., make some 
payment for being allowed to pass. " No," I said, " white 
men do not pay ' hongo.' " Next he asked me to wait a 
little, and retired with his two warriors about twenty yards 
ofiT. After a few minutes' discussion he returned : he 
wanted a present. " No, white men do not give presents." 
He wanted one of my oxen. I laughed. Then he asked 
me to wait again, and then again retired with his two 
lieutenants. When he returned I told him that the 
469 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

conference was over, but that as he had many men with 
him I had better tell him that it was dangerous to come 
near my camp at night, as my askaris had orders to fire 
on anyone who came close to the camp. He replied that 
he did not want war, and his followers repeated it. Each 
spoke in turn, and the speaker held in his hand the knob- 
kerry of the chief, with which he gesticulated. The chief 
then asked me if the Masai in my caravan belonged to 
me. " Yes." He then asked permission to speak to them. 
" Certainly," I said. Afterwards, when I began to pitch 
my camp for the night, my Masai came and told me that 
I must expect to be attacked during the night. The 
captain had said to them that as I would not give him 
an ox he would come and take all I had, and kill me 
and all my men. They added that " they should not sleep 
that night, as the El Nandi are very bad men who come 
crawling up to you like snakes." I assured them that 
they need not be afraid, that I was as cunning as the 
cleverest Masai, and would answer for it that nobody got 
inside my camp. I formed a strong zareba, round which 
over a space of about ten feet I got the ground covered 
with small twigs of thorn bushes, that were bound to 
stop an army of bare-footed men. I also posted four 
sentries, with orders to fire on anyone approaching the 
camp. Towards sundown I saw several Masai observing 
my arrangements; but, as I expected, the night passed 
quite quietly. My experience is that natives never attack 
anyone who is on his guard.* 

Next day we went over twenty miles across a series of 
grassy plains without a tree or bush. Game was most 
abundant ; hartebeest, small gazelles, and zebras : we also 
found fresh spoor of rhinoceroses and several buffaloes' 
skulls. The next day the country was most delightful, 

* The same people one year after destroyed a caravan of looo men merely 
because they took no precautions, and were surprised in the middle of the 
night. The Masai tactics differ from those of other tribes : African natives 
usually attack their enemy just before sunrise, but the Masai always attack in 
the early part of the night so as to be able to get a long way off before morning. 
470 



FROM UGANDA TO KIKUYU 

recalling an English park in the most curious way — 
sweeps of undulating short grass with groups of mag- 
nificent forest trees. We were now on very high ground 
— 8600 feet above sea-level ; an icy wind blew from the 
north, and the temperature at 6 p.m. was only 54 degrees. 
Next morning I was almost frozen, and my men, who were 
next to naked, felt still worse ; every one of them suffered 
from fever. The country remained much the same until 
we reached the highest altitude of our road, 8700 feet. 
Here we entered a forest, and the path descended until we 
came out again into open ground, where we camped. 

That afternoon a Zanzibari arrived in my camp in a 
miserable condition. His story was that he had belonged 
to a Swahili caravan, which had gone to Lake Baringo, 
but he had been abandoned, and had lived for a month 
on roots. I allowed him to join my party, leaving him 
to explain himself at Kikuyu, Several of my men were 
down with fever and dysentery, and one was evidently 
doomed within a day or two. It is curious how callous 
a long stay in Africa makes one about a man's life. 
In a country where one is exposed every moment to 
be carried off by a wild beast, or stabbed by a native, 
one soon comes to think very little of one's own life or 
anybody else's. 

Next day, the 19th March, we passed through the 
forest of Subugo. It is very thick, and walking through 
it is very tiring. Every moment we had to pass 
through veritable tunnels of vegetation. The path was 
soaked by the rain, so that the ground was very slippery, 
and intersected with roots, while in other places we had 
to climb over great trunks of fallen trees. The effects 
of lightning in this region are terrific. Immense trees, 
100 feet high, had been shattered to pieces, and the 
fragments flung far and wide. After four and a half 
hours' march we reached the river Eldoma, running at 
the bottom of a gorge more than 200 feet deep, and 
after crossing it camped on a grassy tableland. This 
471 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

region is admirably adapted for European settlement, and 
stock-breeding ought to succeed admirably. It would be 
even more successful if transport by ox-waggon were 
established here. I had been asked by Colonel Colvile 
to examine the country with a view to the establishment 
of a service of ox-waggons ; and except the gorge 
through which the Eldoma runs, I found no serious 
obstacle. But that was in 1894, and the railway has 
since then been begun. In the meantime Captain Sclater 
has completed an excellent road, suitable for waggon 
transport, the whole way to Uganda. 

The country continued to be most extraordinarily 
abundant in game, and on the 20th March I spent the 
best part of the day shooting. Antelopes and zebras 
appeared at every turn, and I shot six fine hartebeest 
in the course of the day. One of them displayed most 
extraordinary tenacity of life. I fired at a distance of 
about 200 yards, and he rolled over with his hoofs in the 
air. David ran up to finish him, and fired, but the second 
bullet seemed to bring him back to life. He jumped 
up and galloped off: 300 yards further he stopped. 
David fired another shot and again he fell, but once more 
got up and made off I got within shot and put a 
fourth bullet into him, but even then he was not finished, 
and had to be killed with the knife. He was a superb 
buck — as large as a small ox. My men gave me three 
cheers when they found the splendid supply of meat I 
had provided. Next day we had to make a very long 
and tiring march to make up for lost time. The country 
was very varied and cut up by many ravines. There was 
still any amount of game to be seen ; but I was feeling 
very seedy, and not disposed to go out of my way for 
them. There were many fresh traces of elephants and 
rhinoceroses, and we also found an ostrich feather, but 
saw nothing of any of these animals. I also found 
a large number of buffalo skulls, and indeed they had 
been very frequent for several days, but there was no 
472 



FROM UGANDA TO KIKUYU 

sign of the animals themselves. Rinderpest had destroyed 
all the buffalo here. 

I was so bad this day with fever that I could hardly 
hold myself upright on my ox. Finally I made myself 
fairly comfortable by sitting sideways ; but the beast, 
annoyed by flies, bucked and sent me flying to earth — 
which finished me. When we came to our camp, I saw 
a dozen zebras in the exact spot we were making for. 
I got to within fifty yards of them, and then took 
aim and fired ; but I was so weak that I could not 
hold my rifle. It gave me a terrible cuff on the side 
of the head, and the zebras made off. With great diffi- 
culty I got to a tree one hundred yards away. It 
seemed to me a league. I threw myself down, and 
have a vague recollection of lying on the ground while 
they pitched my tent. After that I was indifferent to 
everything. 

Next morning I was a wreck, but started off all the 
same. We soon saw big troops of zebras ; but as we 
had nearly sixteen miles to go before finding wood 
or water, I made a solemn resolution not to go out of 
the way except for an elephant, a rhinoceros, a lion, 
or an ostrich. Sure enough, after about an hour we saw 
a dozen ostriches. I started after them with David, and 
we passed quite close to some charming little antelopes, 
but I did not fire for fear of frightening the ostriches. 
However, these saw me more than six hundred yards 
off, and decamped with huge strides. Suddenly David 
cried out, " A lion ! " The beast was about two hundred 
and fifty yards off, behind a tree. I crawled towards 
it ; but it was only an enormous hygena, the biggest 
I ever saw, but not worth powder and shot. I was 
just starting back to rejoin the caravan, when in the 
distance I saw a huge beast which David pronounced 
to be an elephant, but which looked to me more like 
a rhinoceros. We gained rapidly on the quarry, but 
unluckily I was obliged to make a big detour for fear 
473 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA — 

of giving him my wind, and a dozen of my men who*- 
had seen the animal came to join me. We got up to 
within fifty yards : it was a superb rhinoceros. He 
stopped and faced us. I was about to approach still 
nearer, so as to make sure of hitting him in a 
mortal spot, as I had only a 450 Express, when 
one of my men, afraid that he was going to charge, 
shouted out, " Piga, piga ! " (" shoot, shoot "). Before I 
knew what was happening, all my men blazed away. 
For a moment or two I was blinded with the smoke, 
and when it cleared the beast was making off one 
hundred and fifty yards away. I sent a bullet after 
him, but without any result. My men wanted to follow 
him, but I stopped them ; the morning was well advanced 
and we had far to go. That, however, did not prevent 
me from relieving my feelings by abusing them roundly 
for having fired without orders. It did not bring back 
the rhinoceros, but it was a small consolation to me. 
After five hours' march through thorny bushes we came 
in sight of the little Lake Nakuro, at the bottom of a 
valley surrounded by hills. Its aspect was sufficiently 
melancholy, as the water appeared a dull yellow, and 
its surroundings were quite bare of trees. An hour later 
we camped by its side. This day I found on the road 
an empty box surrounded by broken bottles. The box 
had evidently been opened by the Masai, who had 
burnt one side of it to get at the contents. This was an 
interesting relic of Mr. Scott Elliot's expedition. It 
was near this spot that he had lost his donkeys, goats, 
and several loads. His men told him that the Masai 
had attacked them, which they afterwards confessed to 
me was a fable : they had merely chucked away their 
loads, well knowing that he was too kind-hearted to 
punish them. The animals had been sold to the Masai 
by his headman. 

During the next three days the country remained much 
the same — grass-covered plains rising and falling, here and 
474 



FROM UGANDA TO KIKUYU 

there covered with bush or dead trees. The zebras and 
antelopes of various kinds were still abundant, and I was 
able to get a certain amount of meat for my men. I 
could not help thinking what a pity it was that the vast 
herds of zebras should not be turned to some use. As I 
said before, a few good cowboys with good horses could 
easily capture them with the lasso; and it has been proved 
that they can be reduced to a state of domesticity. 

On the 26th March we camped at Lake Naivasha. On 
approaching it we saw a large number of Masai, 
evidently on the war-path. They passed four or five 
hundred yards in front of us, crossing our track without 
stopping. I called to them, and gave them to understand 
that I wished to buy some of their spears and other 
implements, and they came at once and were very , 
friendly, in spite of what had been told me, and seemed 
very desirous of earning a little calico. Their spears were 
magnificent, but I had to pay a sheep for each. Most 
of them refused to sell their shields even for an ox, but I 
was able to get one for two sheep. They were all fine 
men, tall and well built, adorned with the diadem of 
ostrich plumes and the mantle 
of cock's feathers. Some of 
them had short sticks of 
bamboo as large as 2f inches 
thick in the lobe of their ears ; 
others a curious elongated piece 
of wood. All had their heads 
covered with a cap, generally 
made of an ox's stomach smeared 
with ochre, though some wore 
bonnets of lion's skin. They 

„,,,.,. 1 -^1 MASAI EAR ORNAMENT. 

all had their hair smeared with 

ochre, and tied up in bunches, hanging either over the 
forehead or else in a pigtail behind. Their ornaments 
usually consisted of a bracelet of iron on the left arm 
round the biceps, and iron collars and bracelets. Others 
475 




THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

wore charms round the neck. Round their shoulders 
they wore a leather vest. Besides spears and shields 
they carried a sword (simie) on the right side. To 
clinch a bargain they spit on the earth ; and the form 
of taking an oath is to pull a handful of grass and 
chew it. They shake hands in the European manner, 
but, as I said before, as a sign of friendship spit in 
your hand; or in the case of special friends spit in each 
other's face. David told me that these warriors had 
told the Masai of my caravan that they were coming 
back from Kikuyu. There, they said, they had attacked 
the station and killed five men, losing two of their own. 
They had taken large booty; and it was quite true that 
they were driving more than forty head of cattle, but 
I doubted very much whether they had attacked the 
station. They could easily have overwhelmed me, being 
in very superior force, but they showed themselves most 
friendly. 

The Masai at one time formed an immense and 
compact nation, but they are now divided into a large 
number of separate tribes. Their cohesion was due to 
the influence of a very celebrated sorcerer named Battiani. 
His death was followed by the epidemic of " indushi " 
(rinderpest), which came from the north in 1891. Nearly 
all the cattle of the Masai perished, and then they fell 
out among themselves for the possession of the few that 
survived. Finally, small-pox added its ravages to those 
of famine, and the nation was irretrievably broken. The 
Masai still maintain their hardy and warlike character, but 
as an African power they are no longer to be feared. 

While I am on the subject I may as well describe their 
huts. They are about four feet six inches high, with a 
very small door hardly a foot wide : a man of moderate 
size has to turn sideways to get into his hut. These huts 
are made of grass, caked with clay, and are constructed 
in two chambers, as shown in the plan. Both inside and 
out they are disgustingly filthy, as the people do not 
476 



FROM UGANDA TO KIKUYU 

remove any kind of filth from inside. When you come 
to a village all the men come to shake hands with you. 
Children come and stand in front of you, bowing their 
heads, and you rub the backs of their necks. Before rinder- 
pest broke out the elmoran or warriors never ate anything 
but beef, and even when hungry would not have touched 
any other meat. The fact that they never hunt animals 
accounts for the large number of game in their country. 
They own large numbers of donkeys, which they use to 
carry their goods when they move from one place to 
another, as they shift their houses as soon as the cattle 
have cleared the grass round the then existing village. 
The loads on the backs of the donkeys are balanced 
by two sticks trailing on the ground, a very ingenious 
method. 

On the 25 th March we followed the shores of Lake 
Naivasha for a short distance in the direction of Mount 
Logonat, an extinct volcano. We then crossed a wide 
sweeping plain clad with short grass, and covered with 
the ruins of deserted Masai villages. We then began to 
descend into the Kedong Valley, the country changing in 
appearance, and becoming covered with resinous bush of 
a pale yellowish colour. After five hours and a halfs 
walking, which seemed interminable, I came to the con- 
clusion that we must be going in a wrong direction, so I 
took the lead, and with the help of the map made my 
way across the bush. At last, after eight hours' march, 
we reached the little river Kedong, where we pitched 
our camp. There was a tremendous wind blowing, and 
my tent was hardly up before one of the cross poles 
snapped. I had another cut and fitted ; and no sooner 
was the tent at last in position than I hastily took my 
bath and flung myself on my bed exhausted. . Next 
moment the headman of the rear-guard came to announce 
that one of the men was missing. It was the porter who 
carried my box of cartridges, so that if he could not be 
found I was in a sorry condition. I sent the headman 
477 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

and two askaris to look for him, but at ten in the evening 
they returned unsuccessful. 

At three in the morning David rushed into my tent 
wildly excited, and said that a lion was eating one of the 
men. I jumped out of bed, and found that David was 
quite right ; a lion had seized a man, and dragged him 
by the leg ten yards away, but had been frightened by the 
other men, who rushed at him with firebrands, and had 
driven him off. I had the wounded man brought to the 
front of my tent ; four of the lion's teeth had penetrated 
his leg, and one had torn away the calf for about six inches 
— a wide and very ugly wound. He was also very badly 
bitten on the fingers. I washed his wounds, and stitched 
up the biggest — not at all an agreeable job, with an 
icy wind, in the middle of the night, and with nothing to 
see by except a flickering lantern. 

Next morning I again sent a man to look for the lost 
porter, and he was at last found. The poor fellow had 
lost himself, and had to spend the night in a tree under 
which a lion had been sitting most of the time. In addition 
to the funza, and the innumerable swarms of flies, I 
discovered a new pest of Africa. It was a small bird, 
with a grey body and a red head, which takes up a 
position on the backs of the oxen and donkeys, and 
pecks at them until a very bad ulcer is produced. This 
is what is usually called the rhinoceros bird, as he always 
keeps company with the rhinoceros, eating the lice with 
which his huge friend is covered. 

On the 29th March we climbed the escarpment of the 
Kikuyu Mountains, and then, getting over a further small 
rise, we followed a long grassy valley. Then came a forest, 
on the other side of which we at last found traces of 
habitation. We had done our eight hours' walking, and 
now crossed a small stream, from which I knew that 
Kikuyu was nearly six miles further on ; so I decided 
to push on. We crossed a series of hills intersected by 
magnificent valleys, with rivulets running through them, 
478 



FROM UGANDA TO KIKIJYU 

and at last arrived at Fort Smith, where I was greeted 
by Mr. Hall, the agent of the British East Africa Company. 
I found there also Major Cunningham, on his way to 
Uganda. From him I heard of the deaths of Sir Gerald 
Portal and M. Waddinsfton. 



479 



CHAPTER XXII. 
FROM KIKUYU TO MACHAKOS. 

THE WAKAMBA. 

THE station of Kikuyu is very strong and admirably 
built, with a good trench, a good parapet, and an 
indestructible magazine — a position impregnable to native 
attack. When the station was first established it was 
built in another situation, about a mile and a half off, at 
Dagoreti. The place was, however, besieged by the natives, 
and the defenders, having run short of ammunition, had to 
evacuate the fort. The existing station was built from 
the plans of Major Smith by Captain Nelson, the com- 
panion of Stanley, who died there of dysentery in 1882. 

The Wakikuyu enjoy, and with great justice, an un- 
equalled reputation for duplicity and bad faith ; however, 
they are a good deal better than they were, thanks to the 
good administration of Mr. Hall. A few days before my 
arrival all the chiefs of Kikuyu, with one or two excep- 
tions, had made a solemn treaty with him, by which 
they undertook to be collectively responsible for the future 
misdeeds of any individual one of them : the only ques- 
tion was whether they would abide by this treaty. The 
Wakikuyu are the aborigines of the country round Mount 
Kenia, and although distinct from the Masai they have 
certain affinities with them. In consequence of an intestine 
war they separated into two distinct branches — the pastoral 
portion of the tribe driving away those who devoted 
themselves chiefly to agriculture ; it was the latter with 
whom I found myself in contact. They are industrious 
480 



FROM KIKUYU TO MACHAKOS 

and very successful cultivators. Having chosen a suitable 
patch of forest, they cut down the trees about a yard 
from the earth, chop off the smaller branches, and burn 
them along with the trunk as manure. They then begin 
to plough, and plant the seeds between the stumps. Each 
year they burn a little more of the stump, and so maintain 
a supply of ashes for the land. All European vegetables 
thrive magnificently in this soil. The Wakikuyu also raise 
a large number of fine cattle. 

Their villages are concealed in the forest, and are very 
difficult of approach. Some 150 or 200 yards from the 
village is an opening about three feet high cut through 
impenetrable undergrowth, and defended on either side by 
a stout palisade some six feet thick ; this narrow path 
passes occasionally through regular tunnels of vegetation. 
In case of attack the warriors are posted along the path, 
so that any progress forward is almost impossible. Here 
and there it is covered with pointed stakes. Supposing 
an attacking party made its way through this path during 
the night, it would find these short pointed sticks planted 
firmly in the earth to pierce the feet of the assailants. In 
the bush surrounding the villages there are also enormous 
pits, with their openings hidden by branches and full 
of pointed stakes at the bottom : I saw no villages so 
ingeniously defended in the whole of Africa. Like the 
Masai the Wakikuyu carry spears, knobkerries, and short 
swords hanging on the right side ; their shields also are 
somewhat similar to those of the Masai. Besides these 
weapons they use poisoned arrows. They do not, however, 
imitate the magnificent war costume of their neighbours. 

The general type of the race can only be called bestial 
— very prominent cheek-bones, short noses, and bulging 
eyes, with a ferocious expression. Most of them let their 
hair grow long and braid it. Their hair, face, and whole 
body are smeared with ochre and butter. They distend 
the lobe of the ear with the same kind of ornaments as the 
Masai, in addition to which they pierce three holes in the 
21 481 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

upper part of it ; through these young bachelors wear 
three bits of reed fastened together, while the elder men 
pass through them an enormous number of rings made of 
brass or beads. The weight of these pulls the ear down, 
and entirely destroys its natural shape. While the Masai 
are exceedingly partial to iron wire, the Wakikuyu prefer 
copper ornaments. They wear large numbers of copper 
necklaces and bracelets, and also armlets of rhinoceros skin, 
like the Masai. They also wear a circlet round the calf. 
They take snuff, but smoke very little. Altogether they are 
perhaps the most cunning and certainly the most detest- 
able of all the African tribes with which I came into 
contact. They were so treacherous that no white man 
could go as far as a mile from the fort without being 
accompanied by at least twenty soldiers. 

I stayed at Kikuyu for a week, and was uncommonly 
glad of the rest. Mr. Hall and Major Cunningham 
accompanied me as far as the Athi plains when I started 
on the 5th April. The country through which we went 
on the next day was simply swarming with game, and, in- 
credible as it may seem, I am certain that we caught sight 
of over 6000 head of game during the day. From a 
small eminence we commanded a view of about five miles 
in every direction : the whole plain was black with 
animals — wildebeest, zebras, hartebeest, waterbuck, and 
innumerable gazelles. We also passed the fresh spoor 
of lions, rhinoceroses, and ostriches. In the morning I shot 
two hartebeest, and towards evening fired at a third, which 
was galloping along a good 300 yards off. He dis- 
appeared over a ridge, and I was too tired to follow him. 
David, however, ran after him, and presently called to me ; 
the beast was dead, shot through the lungs. That night, 
thanks to a tremendous storm which had soaked us 
through during the whole day, I was very bad with fever, 
and woke up in the morning with an ulcerated throat and 
pains all over the body ; I therefore decided to remain 
near the Athi river for the rest of the day. In the after- 



FROM KIKUYU TO MACHAKOS 

noon David went out shooting, and returned in the 
evening with a superb waterbuck whose horns were 
twenty-six inches apart. He had also seen three rhin- 
oceroses, and succeeded in dropping one, but as he was 
going up to finish it two lions appeared. He hesitated, 
and the rhinoceroses got up and lumbered off; as for the 
lions, on mature reflection he decided not to fire at them. 
He had also seen a number of hippopotami on the river 
Athi, near which our camp was. 

I spent a good deal of this day investigating a case of 
theft. During the night a shield and the food of three 
of the men had been stolen. I went over the whole 
baggage of the caravan, and found in one of the loads the 
bags which had held the stolen food. In defence the thief 
declared that he could not account for these bags being in 
his load, but he suspected his Musimo (evil spirit), who 
most likely placed the bags there to get him punished. 
In the afternoon we caught a Masai prowling round 
the camp. He refused to say who his chief was, or to 
explain what he was doing there, so as a precaution I put 
him in chains. 

Next morning I sent my caravan on ahead, and went 
with David to the pool where he had seen the hippo- 
potami and the two lions. Needless to say the 
hippopotami had disappeared, and there was no sign 
of the lions except the spoor of the day before. When 1 
started back to overtake the caravan I came on a herd of 
hartebeest, and succeeded in bringing down two of them. 
Our path led over great grass-grown plains, and when 
we halted at the end of five hours' march we had not 
come to the end of them. During the day we had 
been winding round a range of rocky hills — a place 
celebrated for lions : it was there that a caravan had been 
attacked by ' twenty-seven lions, and a few months after 
I passed it Captain Macdonald shot two lions out of 
a troop of seven at this very spot. We had hardly 
halted when a band of Wakamba came down a hill 
483 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

to meet us. They said they were lying in wait for the 
Masai, who had attacked them recently, and from whom 
they anticipated a fresh invasion. 

Next day, after climbing the hill Lanjora, we got a 
fine view of the plain of Machakos, and three hours and 
a half s march brought us down to the station of Machakos. 
Mr. Ainsworth, the officer in command, has made a 
charming spot of this station. The whole place is 
planted with masses of bananas and flowers, which give 
it a thoroughly homelike appearance. Mr. Ainsworth 
had been here two years, and had obtained a great 
influence over the natives, who were not only well 
disposed towards Europeans, but willing to give their 
active support to the administration. It appeared from 
what he said that it was from an attack on this station 
that the Masai, whom I met at Lake Naivasha, were 
returning. They had, however, been repulsed, and had 
not succeeded in capturing the Company's cattle. They 
had, notwithstanding that, afterwards surprised several 
Wakamba villages, and taken a good many oxen and 
goats from them. The Masai, as I have already said, 
are in the habit of attacking at the time of the full 
moon. They wait till night comes, make their raid, and 
then travel by moonlight so as to put a considerable 
distance between themselves and their enemies before 
daybreak. 

I stayed at Machakos several days, and, from my own 
observation and the information Mr. Ainsworth gave me, 
I learned a good deal about the Wakamba, the last and 
in many ways the most interesting tribe which I was 
able to study. Their country comprises between 70,000 
and 80,000 square miles, lying north-east of Mount Kilima 
Njaro* and south and west of the Athi river. The 
northern part of it alone, which covers about 12,000 

* I have used the expression Mount KiHma Njaro, although it is redundant. 
The name of the mountain is Njaro. The word Kilima is Kiswahili, 
meaning "the mountain." 

484 




FROM KIKUYU TO MACHAKOS 

square miles, is estimated to have a population of at least 
400,000. 

The East Africa Company occupied the country in 
1889, and in 1891 the Wakamba, justly exasperated by 
the ill-treatment they received from one of the Company's 
agents, rose against him and attacked the station. At the 
time when I visited the country, however, they were, as I 
have said, exceedingly friendly to the tactful administra- 
tion of Mr. Ainsworth. They are intelligent, industrious 
people, and capable of very rapid improvement. Their 
customs and laws indicate a power of political and civil 
organization altogether differ- 
ent from those of other native 
races I came across. 

Unlike other tribes, they 
possess no paramount chief. 
There is indeed in the district 
of Mala one chief called - j 

Mwatu, who is regarded as - .' , ^x 

the real chief of that province, 
but he has no special title ' " 
and no special prerogatives ; 
nor is he hereditary, having 
gained his position by prowess 
in war. In reality the Wakam- a 

ba form a kind of patriarchal 
republic ; they are distributed 
among thousands of small 
villages (muchi), each one -^'-^ 

being the property and resi- f' 

dence of a single family; these a native of ukambani. 
contain an average of about 

fifteen huts. The head of each village is the father (um- 
tumia) : he usually has three or four wives, each of whom 
has a hut and a grain store of her own. If he is an 
old man he may have grown-up sons. The married sons 
form each a village of his own ; the unmarried have their 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

own huts in their father's village. The daughters live each 
with her own mother until they are married. 

Property goes from the father to the eldest son, and he 
exercises authority over his younger brothers and sisters. 
Supposing his father leaves him any cattle, he must give 
his younger brothers enough to buy wives with. On the 
other hand, he is entitled to the cattle paid as the dowry 
of his sisters. If the father has left no cattle, two-thirds 
of the beasts paid as the price of those of his daughters 
who may get married after his death go to his eldest son, 
the remaining third being divided among the rest of the 
sons. The father's wives can either remain with the 
eldest son or pass by arrangement into the possession of 
the father's brother. They then become his wives, but 
not without their own consent. A woman cannot inherit, 
although she can own cattle earned by her own labour. 
If the eldest son of the deceased is a minor, his uncle 
or nearest male relative on the father's side takes 
possession as trustee. When the heir comes of age — 
that is to say when he wants to get married — the trustee 
must account for the property on a fixed scale. For 
each cow he received he must produce one calf for every 
two years ; for each female child, if she is married, two 
cows, while, if she is not, he must produce her. Any 
death of cow, calf, or girl must be proved by witnesses. 
If a man leaves no male issue, his property goes to 
his brother or the male issue of his brother ; any relation 
on the male side appears to count as an honorary brother. 

The country is divided into districts, which are organ- 
ized together. If a case arises concerning the people of 
the same district, the owners of the villages of that 
district assemble to settle it. If it concerns two or more 
districts, the owners of the villages of the districts con- 
cerned meet together in the same way. Sometimes, if 
the elders cannot thus settle the case, the people of the 
different districts go to war. 

The laws of the Wakamba are numerous, and for 



FROM KIKUYU TO MACHAKOS 

Africa singularly just and reflecting. There is no real 
individual property in land ; if a man on his marriage 
sets up a village of his own, he can take any land that 
is unoccupied. The penal code is especially discriminating. 
A murder is judged by the elders ; if it is a man's first 
offence of that kind he is punished by a fine — five or ten 
cows for a murdered man, and two for a woman. 
If the murderer cannot pay, his relations must pay for 
him ; but a man convicted for the second time of murder 
is killed at once, everyone setting on him the moment 
judgment is delivered. It is not murder for a man to 
kill his own slave, but it is to kill anybody else's. The 
top price of a slave, an engaging young woman for 
instance, is fifteen to twenty goats. Such a woman is 
valuable, not only for herself, but as a brood slave, so to 
speak. If a man kills another when he is drunk, he is 
fined for the first offence as if he had been sober ; but 
in the case of a second offence, the elders may either 
sentence him to death or make the seller of drink pay 
compensation to the family of the victim. This struck 
me as far beyond the judicial level of the rest of Africa. 
For rape a first offender is flogged, and has to pay a 
fine of one cow ; for the second offence he is killed. 
If a man is caught in adultery at night, the husband 
has a right to kill him ; but if the injured man thus 
takes the law into his own hands in the daytime, he is 
dealt with as a murderer. If the husband catches the 
co-respondent and does not kill him, he can bring him 
before the council of elders and get damages ; the woman 
is flogged. But the husband has also a very practical 
remedy for his wrongs; he can compel the adulterer to 
take over the woman and to refund her price. A woman 
may be divorced for persistent adultery or for refusing to 
work, and in each case her father has to refund what he 
got for her. A woman, however, cannot divorce her hus- 
band, nor can she herself be divorced for sterility. As a 
rule, however, if a woman has no children she puts an end 
487 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

to the false position by eloping with another man. The 
husband in that case can claim her price from the man 
with whom she has gone. A thief entering a village at 
night can be killed ; this provision, as well as the similar 
one about adultery, furnishes a curious parallel to the 
provisions of the Mosaic Law. When a theft is committed, 
the elders, if the thief is caught, may compel him to 
restore what he has taken, as well as to pay a fine. If 
a thief is killed at night, the incident generally gives rise 
to a vendetta between his family and that of the killer, 
which goes on until both are extinct. Trial by ordeal 
is unknown among this tribe. 

In consequence of the extreme subdivision of the people 
in their villages, the regimentation of the Wakamba for 
war is rather an elaborate matter. They have no or- 
ganized system of defence : the huts of each village are 
defended by a small hedge of thorns, but only the titular 
head chief, Mwatu of Mala, has any number of people 
grouped round him. If the Wakamba wish to attack 
a neighbouring tribe, the elders meet together ; each 
one says how many of his sons he is willing to send. 
When they have agreed on this point they call together 
all the warriors, and appoint a man of middle age to lead 
the contingent of the district. If several districts join 
in the campaign, each contingent has its leader ; but there 
is no supreme command. They travel all night to the 
place they wish to raid, and attack at early dawn, 
generally opening the engagement with a flight of 
poisoned arrows. The heads of these arrows are made 
to come off the shaft, and the poison with which they 
are smeared is made of the leaves and the wood of a 
certain tree chopped into small pieces and boiled in an 
earthen pot. The stuff is then strained, and the sediment 
reboiled in the same manner; the residue, a black resinous 
substance, is the poison. The Wakamba are not fond of 
fighting at close quarters, but if driven to it use swords 
or spears. They have no knobkerries. They carry banners 



FROM KIKUYU TO MACHAKOS 

of coloured cloth, but no drums. The great aim of war 
is the capture of cattle, for the Wakamba do not, like the 
Matabele, kill for the sake of killing. Naturally they kill 
all the men that fall into their hands, but they spare even 
the oldest women and the children. The captives are 
sold if possible ; and women do not as a rule become 
the wives of their captors. After they return from war all 
the men who have taken spears parade with them before 
the elders. The father of any man who has so distin- 
guished himself is expected to celebrate the occasion by 
killing a goat. The captured spear is kept in the hut of 
the family, and for seven days all the friends come to 
look at it and bring some pombe for the gallant warrior. 

Even when fighting between themselves, the Wakamba 
do not sell any of their own countrymen they may have 
captured — again a curious parallel with the laws of Moses. 

The Wakamba have, properly speaking, no religion ; 
but they differ from most tribes in their beliefs, as they 
acknowledge a well-intentioned supreme being. They 
attribute good and evil to a superior being by the name 
of Ngae, but they have no regular religious ritual, although 
in case of drought the elders hold a meeting and take 
a calabash of native cider and a goat to a baobab tree ; 
they kill the goat, but do not eat it. These people neither 
worship their ancestors nor believe in witchcraft, though 
they have great faith in second sight. There is a rude 
kind of surgery practised which consists chiefly — as, for 
that matter, it did in Europe a hundred years ago — in 
letting blood. They also use drugs and charms, and 
attempt to arrest infectious diseases by going through 
certain spells on the path by which it is travelling. 
Doctors are both male and female, and are held in great 
honour. 

They count, like most African tribes, on their fingers, 

beginning with the little finger of the right hand. They 

hold up one, two, three, or four, as the case may be, 

to signify the first four numbers. Five is the closed 

489 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

fist. For six they catch the httle finger of the right 
hand in that of the left, for seven two fingers, and so 
on. Both fists together signify ten ; after ten they begin 
again, keeping tally of each ten with a stick. 

Their marriage customs are not very different from 
those of other tribes : a man goes to the girl's father, 
supposing that the couple mutually please each other, 
and says he wants to marry her. There is the usual 
haggling as to price, but it is generally settled at about 
thirty goats or two cows. If the suitor has the price 
ready he can take the girl on the spot. More usually 
the price is brought in three days' time by the man's 
brothers, who bring back the bride. Sometimes the 
event is celebrated by a dance three days after delivery. 
The newly-married wife cannot go out for four days, 
and only after that time may she cook for her husband. 
On the eighth day her mother and sisters come to visit 
her. On this occasion the husband keeps out of the way, 
since among the Wakamba, as among many African 
tribes, a man may not look at or speak to his mother- 
in-law. In many families the betrothal of infants is 
practised, but here again the Wakamba display a social 
instinct much in advance of other tribes : when a girl 
comes of age she is at liberty to refuse a proffered husband 
if she does not like him. This is so even when, as often 
happens, the dowry has all been paid up in advance. In 
that case the father finds out whom she prefers, and if he 
is willing gets the same dowry from him, and pays it over 
to the disappointed suitor. The average age of marriage 
for a girl is about twelve : for a man, when he can afford it. 

No man may be present at the birth of a child. Three 
days after this event the father gives the infant a present 
of beads ; the woman stays in the house for three days 
after the birth of a child, but usually is at work again 
after a week. Two days after a birth there is a great 
feast, and all the relations bring presents of food and 
drink. On that occasion there is a dance, in which old 
490 



FROM KIKUYU TO MACFiAKOS 

people alone take part ; the young are not admitted 
to it. It is at this feast that the child is named, the 
grandmother acting as sponsor. A mother suckles her 
child, unless another arrives in the meantime, for two 
years. The average number of children from one mother 
is from four to six, although I had the honour to know 
a man who by his two wives had had a family of 
seventeen. (This, though not extraordinary in itself, is 
considerably above the average in Africa.) Thus the 
population of the country is steadily increasing. Twins, 
which are not infrequent, are supposed to bring bad 
luck, as it is thought the father will die before they 
grow up to be strong ; the Wakamba do not, however, 
kill twins. Married women will not drink milk unless 
it is churned, as they consider it dangerous in childbirth. 
A further striking instance of the relative enlightenment 
of the Wakamba is furnished by their ideas about death. 
Instead of believing, like almost all other natives I know, 
that death from natural causes is impossible, and that 
therefore death is always a case of bewitchment, the 
Wakamba believe the exact opposite. It is fate (ingue). 
If an old man dies, "he was due to die." In the case 
of such an old man — the owner of a village — the body 
is bent up and wrapped round with an old piece of cloth : 
it is then buried inside the thorn hedge, of the village 
on the second day. The work of burial must be done by 
men who are neither warriors nor elders. The wife of the 
owner of a village is also buried inside the stockade, at 
the door of the hut she occupied ; but in the case of 
children and young unmarried people the body is merely 
stripped of its ornaments and thrown away. The women 
only weep on the day of the death, and no one wears any 
sign of mourning ; but all the relatives come at once 
to look after the disposal of the property. A very 
practical people, the Wakamba. They are not so fond 
of dancing as most natives ; nevertheless they have three 
different dances : these are -usually restricted to young 
491 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

men and women. In the first, women and men place 
themselves in two lines opposite to each other. The men 
have each a long drum, consisting of a hollowed-out piece 
of wood about five feet high and four inches in diameter, 
with a handle at the top, and a skin stretched across the 
bottom. On the outside of this drum are rows of small 
bells. While they are dancing the men rush forward from 
time to time and each one of them rubs his cheek against 
that of the girl opposite, singing and beating his drum on 
the ground. The men are absolutely naked for this dance. 
The second is somewhat similar, as the women and men 
here also face each other in lines. Big drums beat time, 
but they are behind the line of dancers in this case. The 
men first walk up to the women, who remain standing with 
their hands on their breasts ; then they go back, rush 
forward again, and rub cheeks ; this goes on for some time, 
and the men get very excited, rushing in the maddest way, 
rubbing cheeks furiously, and singing all the while. If 
a girl does not like her partner she slips out of her place — 
women's rights are astonishingly developed among the 
Wakamba. Both these kinds of dances are impromptu, 
and appear, like our own dances, to be engaged in much 
more for the fun of the thing than as a ceremonial duty. 
Old women have a slow dance to themselves ; drums are 
beaten, and they fling their arms about and sing slowly. 
No dance is allowed either at the new moon, or after a 
hostile attack until vengeance has been taken on the 
enemy ; in the meantime only war drums may be beaten. 
Before going out to war no dance is organized, but an 
enormous one takes place after the warriors return 
successful. 

The Wakamba cultivate Indian corn (mombemba), millet, 
(mubia), potatoes (makwasi), bananas (mayu), and cassava 
(manga), beans of five kinds, and a sort of pea, called " nzu." 
Fish is unknown, but they eat fowls, locusts, and all sorts 
of meat. They also cook blood and eat it. (This reminds 
me of a curious custom of the Masai which I forgot to 
492 



FROM KIKUYU TO MACHAKOS 

mention : they daily bleed their cattle, drawing from one of 
the veins of the neck between one and two pints of blood, 
which they cook and eat. The animals seem none the 
worse for it.) The women do the cooking, and both men 
and women eat together out of calabashes split in two. 
If an animal has been killed with a poisoned arrow, they 
still appear to be able to eat its flesh without any bad 
results. Grain is ground to flour on stones, and then 
pounded in wooden mortars ; each wife has her own grain 
store. They make a sort of gruel by stirring flour in milk. 
Another way of cooking milk is to put it into a calabash 
along with a burning stick of juniper wood, and then 
close it down so as to get the full taste. It is also 
essential to the right flavour that the calabash should 
never be washed. The national drink is more elaborate 
than the usual pombe ; the Wakamba call it tembo. It is 
a kind of cider made of sugar-cane, honey, and water. 
Only old men drink it. The Wakamba, instead of a 
single meal, take food three times a day like Christians. 
Some of them abstain from certain foods ; but it would 
be quite a mistake to think that these foods are totems, 
as in the clans in Uganda. A sensible Wakamba abstains 
from certain food merely because it does not agree with him. 
They practise agriculture extensively, and both sexes 
work in the fields. All heavy work, such as clearing and 
breaking new ground, is done by men with a wooden hoe 
nine or ten feet long. Planting and cleaning the land 
is done by women, children, and old men. They begin to 
prepare the ground in September and October, just before 
the first or small rains which come in October. When 
they come everything is sown except millet, and the crops 
are ripe in January or February. They then clear and 
hoe the fields, and when the big rains come, towards the 
middle of March, they plant everything, including millet. 
This crop is ripe in about three months. They produce 
a third crop of potatoes by artificial irrigation. At 
harvest time there is a big dance. 
493 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

Another important industry of the Wakamba is 
metallurgy. They obtain iron from the river beds, smelt 
it in a furnace of earth, and then hammer it on stone 
anvils with iron hammers fastened on handles of twisted 
twigs. They chiefly make arrow-heads and axes. They 
also work in brass, making beads, bracelets, anklets, and 
the like. 

They have no form of swearing, but to assure you of 
their good faith and friendship they have a peculiar 
ceremony. Two men sit knee to knee bareheaded, and 
their weapons are held over their respective heads by the 
men who are acting as their sponsors or guarantors. 
One guarantor then proclaims that his man has sworn 
to be the other man's friend, and that the weapon he 
holds cannot be used against a friend. The other 
guarantor responds in the same terms. Meantime a 
goat is killed, and its liver and kidneys roasted on a fire. 
Both breasts of the parties to the agreement are now 
bared, and one of the friends draws blood. A piece 
of meat is dipped in the blood of each and eaten by the 
other ; they then embrace, and three days after exchange 
presents. On the whole this is but a variation of the 
blood brotherhood of other parts of Africa. 

I am sorry to say that the personal appearance of the 
Wakamba hardly does justice to their many excellent 
social qualities. They file their four upper front teeth, 
and some knock off two of the lower incisors. The teeth 
are chipped with a small axe. This is their tribal mark. 
They shave their heads and all the hair of their face, and 
pull out their eyebrows and eyelashes. Likewise they 
tattoo their chests and stomachs, and complete the effect 
by anointing themselves all over with a kind of red clay 
mixed with butter. In spite, however, of these small 
outward eccentricities, it will be apparent from what has 
been said that these are among the most interesting and, 
in their way, enlightened of the tribes of Africa. 



494 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

TO ZANZIBAR 

I LEFT Machakos on the 12th April, 1894. I could 
hardly believe that in a few weeks I should be in 
Europe again. Africa had got into my blood — probably 
in more senses than one — and I almost doubted if I 
should ever be civilized again. Of course I was delighted 
to be going home, but even before I reached the coast 
I began to form projects of returning to Africa. There 
is something in African travelling that seems to fascinate 
all those who have tried it : of course I am speaking of 
travelling in Central Africa, and not of waggon travelling 
in the south. That portion of what was formerly called 
the Dark Continent must be left to those who want 
to make money. 

After leaving Machakos the path led at first through 
a region traversed by enormous valleys, richly cultivated, 
and splendidly stocked with oxen, sheep, and goats, and on 
the second day I struck the river Kilungu. We followed 
the bed of the stream, and walking on damp sand every 
here and there interspersed with rocks was by no means 
pleasant. For two days we paddled through the Kilungu, 
and on the 15th camped at the foot of Mount Nzoi. 
When I got there I found that four of my men were 
missing — among them one of the headmen. I sent seven 
askaris to look for these people. They returned with the 
missing men ; they had been detained by the death of 
one of the porters. Just as I was leaving Machakos 
Mr. Ainsworth warned me that the pits near this place 
495 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

had been poisoned by the natives. I told my men to 
drink no water except that of the river, but one of them 
disregarded my orders and drank water out of a pit : in 
a few minutes he died. The nearer we got to the coast 
the more trouble there was with the porters. The 
very next day one of them disappeared with my 
bath, my washing-basin, my lantern, and a box full of 
insects and curiosities. It appeared that the village by 
Mount Nzoi was a great slave-dealing centre. The 
natives were exceedingly anxious to acquire the Masai 
woman who milked my cows, and offered me the 
tempting sum of ten goats for her. Two days' march 
brought me to the river Kiboko, or Hippopotamus — so 
called, I suppose, because there is not enough water in 
it to wash a hippopotamus' feet. That night I was 
awakened by the news that a lion was prowling round 
the camp. I took a goat and fastened it by the feet to a 
tree, into which I climbed. At the end of half an hour 
I heard a tremendous roar quite close to me, but could 
not see the beast : I had never heard a lion roar so close, 
and was not altogether displeased to be up a tree. After 
an hour's waiting, with cramp in every limb, and all my 
clothes, as well as my hands, torn to rags by thorns, 
I decided to come down again and go to bed. I climbed 
down and untied my goat ; immediately the lion roared 
again as close as ever. I tied the wretched goat up again, 
and climbed once more into the tree, leaving en i^oute 
several strips of clothes and flesh. Half an hour more 
of miserable waiting, and the lion condescended to roar 
again, but this time further off; the roaring now went 
on, but got more and more distant. The hunt was over, 
and I went to bed. In the morning before starting I 
examined the spot, and found that the lion had been 
concealed in a thorny covert not more than fifteen yards 
away. 

On April 19th, travelling still over up-and-down 
country covered with long grass and thorns, we had 
496 



TO ZANZIBAR 

reached Kibwezi. Here there was an Industrial Mission 
under Dr. Charters. He had seen a deal of Africa on 
the Congo, where he had commanded a steamer on the 
Ubanghi river, and was full of stories of Mr. Stanley, 
for whom he had the greatest respect.* 

The day after I arrived there I had to put one of my 
men in chains for desertion. The men I had sent two 
days before after the defaulting porter had not yet 
returned, and I had discovered that in addition to his 
other thefts he had made off with two packets of cart- 
ridges and a medicine chest. It was not till two days 
afterwards that the soldiers turned up with the deserter. 
Part of his load had been recovered, but the lantern, the 
washing-basin, and a box with 500 specimens of insects, 
were irretrievably lost. The man confessed to desertion 
and theft, and as it was the second time he had run away, 
I sentenced him to chains unjtil he should be dealt with 
by the proper authorities at Mombasa. 

I left again on the 23rd, and on the 28th reached the 
station of Tsavo : a native was in charge of the place, 
which had been practically abandoned by the British East 
Africa Company. On the way we still saw a good deal 
of game, but the bush was too thick to get a shot at 
it. During these days the temperature changed in the 
most extraordinary manner. The heat was moist and 
oppressive, and we now began to have hot nights. I had 
not known what it was to feel the heat at night since 
leaving the Zambezi. At 10 p.m. the thermometer 
registered over 80 degrees, while at two in the afternoon 
it often marked over lOO degrees in the shade. 

On the 30th we passed Ndi, w^here I found a store in 
which food is kept for the caravans, but, anxious to push 
on as fast as I could, I availed myself of the new road 
built by Mr. Wilson, who had been entrusted with the 
work by the late Sir William Mackinnon : this road saved 

* Dr. Charters has since died in a mysterious way : he went out shooting 
with another missionary, and was never heard of again. 
2 K 497 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

nearly three days, as it cut straight across country instead 
of winding round the hills. In the evening we camped 
on the other side of the Voi river, over which several 
excellent bridges had been built. When I reached camp 
the headman in charge of the rear-guard rushed up out of 
breath and said that one of the men in chains had died. 
I asked if he was quite certain that the man was really 
dead. " Oh, yes," was the ready reply. Thereon I gave 
the headman the key to unlock the fetters, and sent two 
askaris with picks to bury the body ; I gave them, how- 
ever, a bottle full of cold water from the river, and 
recommended them to throw it on the face of the corpse 
before burying it. Later in the evening the supposed 
corpse turned up alive. 

There was intense excitement in the camp, and I was 
much amused to hear the comments of my men on the 
occurrence. " Well," said the headman whom I had sent 
to bury the dead man, " when we got there we found the 
fellow dead and already stiff; the other men of the chain 
gang saw him drop dead, and so did the askaris of the 
rear-guard. I turned him around and shook him, but, as 
I just told you, he was dead, absolutely dead. Then I took 
some of the ' dawa ' (medicine) the Bwana Nkuba (the 
great master) had given me, and threw it over the dead 
man's body and face. He shook himself, and after I had 
poured out a little more over him, he opened his eyes and 
stared at us. We all ran away, but he stood on his legs 
and called out to us to let him have some water to drink. 
When we came back to him there he was alive once more. 
He told us himself that he had been dead, and recollected 
that just after he died he was greeted by the spirits of 
his departed relatives ! " Mawe, Mawe ! " (oh, mother, oh, 
mother !) exclaimed all the hearers, " can't the master 
make good ' dawa ' (witchcraft). Fancy his merely taking 
water from the river and bringing a dead man back to life 
with it ! " " But," replied the headman, " I saw him do it, 
and while he poured out the water in the calabash he 



TO ZANZIBAR 

spoke some words and put some very strong medicine in 
it." The fact was that, as I suspected the man had fainted 
from a sunstroke, I had mixed a httle Hquid ammonia with 
the water ; but all my men thoroughly believed that I had 
caused the man to be resuscitated. The following day we 
had a very long march, as no water was to be found until 
we reached Maungu, some 25 miles from the river Voi. 
The country we crossed was covered with dense thorny 
bush. Towards noon David noticed a few gazelles, and 
suggested that I should go and shoot one of them ; bat I 
scorned the idea, saying that nothing would induce me to go 
inside that bush except a rhinoceros or a lion. I had no 
sooner said this than we heard two lions roaring quite close 
by: as a rule lions do not roar in the day-time except 
when they are over a kill. I therefore made sure that I 
should find them feeding on the carcass of some animal, 
and that at last I should be able to shoot a lion. But I 
was disappointed in my expectation. I crept inside the 
bush, followed by David ; the vegetation was so dense that 
we had to go on all fours, leaving a considerable portion of 
our clothes sticking on the thorns. We soon found the 
fresh spoor of the lions, but getting to an open space lost 
the spoor there, as the ground was harder than under the 
trees. I sent David to the right to find the spoor while I 
went to the left. As I was looking round I noticed, thirty 
yards ahead of me, a huge tree, and at the foot of it what 
looked like a broken trunk : it seemed to be moving, and 
as I looked more carefully I discovered that it was not a 
trunk but a huge lion looking at me. His head was resting 
on his paws, the body was hidden behind the tree. To fire 
at a lion's head is most risky, as it is convex, and the bullet 
may glance off; besides, the wind was blowing from behind 
him, and his mane formed a huge aureole, in the middle of 
which glared his eyes. I was going carefully round so as 
to obtain a view of his body, and be able to give him a side 
shot, when David came rushing towards me. The lion 
jumped up, and before I could aim disappeared in the dense 
499 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

bush. I turned round to ask the boy what he meant by 
rushing along when he saw that I was going to fire, but 
before I could finish what I was saying, a huge black mass 
flew in fi-ont of me, hardly three feet from my face, and 
landing five or six feet beyond disappeared among the 
thorny bushes. The whole thing happened in a few seconds, 
and I could not at first realize the situation. David then 
explained his conduct. It appears that as I was going to 
fire at the lion he noticed a lioness hidden in a bush hardly 
more than six feet to my left, and, seeing that she was 
about to spring at me, he rushed forward " to be ready to 
shoot her if she got on the top of me." This frightened 
the animal and caused her to miscalculate her jump, so that 
she missed me. There is no doubt that David saved my 
life, and it was most plucky of the boy to rush forward to 
my help as he did ; two other men who had followed me 
ran away and climbed up a tree. 

For an hour we crawled through the thorny brake, but 
as their track unluckily showed they had taken the direc- 
tion opposite to our own, and as we had to go far that day, 
I was constrained, to my great regret, to give them up. 
It was the first time I had seen a lion in the savage state 
so near, and never had I seen any animal so superb. It 
was heartbreaking not to have been able to get a shot, and 
to finish my journey without having bagged a single lion. 

At Maungu we found very good water on the top of 
a hill in a rocky hollow. Mr. Wilson, who was making 
the Mackinnon road, had enlarged the existing water 
hole so as to get a permanent supply of water for the 
caravans. Previously it was very seldom that water could 
be found between Taru and Taveta, three long days' 
march, so that porters had to be sent ahead with cans 
filled with water — a most expensive process, and the 
cause of much delay. 

After passing Maungu we entered the Taru desert — a 
sandy plain, covered with thorn bushes — called a desert 
because, like the Kalahari, no water is found at the surface 
500 



TO ZANZIBAR 

of the soil, and it is therefore uninhabited. In four and 
a half hours' march from Maungu we reached " Marago a 
Fundi," where a large pit had been dug under Mr. Wilson's 
supervision, and where we found rather muddy, but 
drinkable, water. After walking for two and a half hours 
more we reached Butzuma, where we camped for the 
night. We found no water there, so that the men had 
to go without food that evening. 

The following day, March 3rd, after three and a half 
hours' hard m.arching, we reached the Taru rocks, where 
we found an abundant supply of good water ; we were 
then out of the desert. After stopping for a few hours 
to enable the men to have a meal, I pushed on to 
Samburu, two and a half hours further on. There we 
found a village inhabited by natives — Wa Duruma. I 
had intended to go on as far as Maji a Chumvi (the Salt 
Water), but I received a letter from Major Owen telling 
me that he was following a day behind. I therefore sent' 
back two askaris to say that I should wait for him. 
The next day he turned up ; he had been following 
close upon my heels ever since he had left Kibwezi. 
He left that place only six hours after my departure ; 
but, although he was the best walker I ever met in 
Africa, I had gained two days on him — to his great 
astonishment. That evening we celebrated his birth- 
day, and he told me all the adventures that had be- 
fallen him since I had parted from him at Mukwenda's. 
He gave me vivid descriptions of his useless pursuit of 
Kabarega, and also told me about his journey to Wadelai 
— one of the pluckiest and most daring feats ever 
achieved in Africa. He left Kibero on Lake Albert in 
a steel boat, accompanied by Mr. Purkiss and twenty- 
seven men only. When he entered the Nile he found 
the banks of the river covered with armed natives, who 
threatened to shoot him if he went any further. At last, 
having reached a spot where the river is but a couple 
of hundred yards broad, he had to approach the bank 
501 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

in order to palaver with the natives. They insisted upon 
his going ashore, but he decHned to do so, and, after 
considerable trouble, induced two of them to get into 
the boat, while others promised to go by land to warn the 
people of Wadela'i of his forthcoming arrival and of his 
friendly intentions. On arriving at Wadelai, although 
his instructions were merely to reconnoitre the place, he 
had to land, as his provisions were exhausted. The people 
at first looked unfriendly, but he managed to enlist about 
fifty of them, giving them three months' pay in advance. 
Having hoisted the British flag, he instructed them to 
guard it, and promised that another officer would 
come later on and reward them if they had faithfully 
guarded the flag. He then returned, but was blamed for 
having hoisted the British flag, whereas he ought rather to 
have been highly rewarded for doing so. After returning 
to Kibero, he started with Lieutenant Villiers to re-establish 
the forts in Toro, so as to protect Kissagama, the King 
of that province, who had remained loyal throughout the 
Unyoro war, although he had suffered much at the hands 
of Kabarega for his fidelity to the British Government. 
His instructions were also to punish the chief of Ankori 
for many acts of disloyalty. Unfortunately, on the way 
Lieutenant Villiers was taken with a most severe attack of 
ophthalmia, and Major Owen had to bring him back to 
Kampala. There Colonel Colvile, having heard that 
Major Cunningham was on his way to relieve Owen, 
allowed the latter to return to Europe for a well-deserved 
rest* He had left Kampala on the 2ist March, so that 

* While I am mentioning this subject, I think it only fair to defend the 
memory of poor Roddy with regard to an accusation made against him. 
When we reached Mombasa Reuter's agent came to interview me, and, 
thinking that Roddy Owen had telegraphic reports of the Unyoro campaign 
for the Foreign Office, I gave to Reuter's agent all the particulars of Owen's 
expedition to Wadela'i. These were published the same day in the London 
IDapers, and caused the late Lord Randolph Churchill to ask the Under- 
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether it was true that Major Owen 
had hoisted the British flag at Wadelai. The Foreign Office knew nothing 
about it, as Owen's despatches were addressed to the Consul-General at 
502 



TO ZANZIBAR 

his journey had been as extraordinarily rapid as might 
have been expected from so energetic and tireless a man. 

The day after we met we had a very fatiguing march, as 
the damp heat was almost unendurable ; but there was so 
much to tell and hear from Owen that the time passed 
quickly. 

I had been nearly three years on the way, and during 
two years and a half I had been without a single letter, 
almost without news, with the exception of a few old 
newspapers that were lent to me in Uganda. My only 
object was to reach Mombasa as fast as possible, and 
Owen shared my anxiety to push forward with all speed. 
Our men were as impatient as ourselves, so that we 
hurried along ; we had sent messengers to Mr. Pigott, 
the Company's administrator at Mombasa, and a reply 
came to say that he would send a steam-launch to meet 
us at Banderini. Of the country we crossed during the 
last two days of our march I am unable to speak : our 
thoughts were very far from Africa. I cannot describe 
with what beating of the heart we caught the first glimpse 
of the sea far away in the distance. "Puanil puani !" 
(the coast) our men shouted. Roddy and myself gave 
three cheers. " Aya ! aya ! aya I " (forward, forward, 
forward) exclaimed all our men. On we rushed, and 
when at last we found the administrator's steam-launch 
waiting to take us to Mombasa—a distance of about 
twelve miles — we could hardly believe that our long 
tramp was over. A few hours later we were on board 
the Jiiba, a steamer of 400 tons, that was taking us to 
Zanzibar. It was quite a new sensation to find ourselves 
on what seemed to us such a big steamer; we even 
enjoyed being sea-sick, a thing neither Roddy nor myself 
had ever experienced before, but the Juba, as a roller, 

Zanzibar, whence the official news was not telegraphed until the following day. 
Roddy Owen was accused of having committed a breach of trust by giving 
the news to Reuter's agent ; but the fault was entirely mine, and he knew 
nothing whatever about it at the time. 

• 503 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

is the champion of all the ships afloat. Zanzibar at 
last ! There we revelled in the lavish hospitality of Mr. 
Cracknell, the Acting British Consul-General, and how we 
did enjoy sleeping in a good broad bed ! It was nearly 
three years since I had slept between sheets, and the next 
morning I could not at first realize where I was. It was 
broad daylight, and I could not understand why I had 
not yet heard the drums calling the assembly. Then 
I remembered where I was ; there was no more tent, 
no more camp, no more marching. It was but two 
days since I had done my last thirty-two miles' tramp, 
and I felt as if I had just dropped from another world 
into one of which I had but a dim recollection. I went 
into Roddy's room and reminded him that Hatch, who 
was in command of the Zanzibar contingent as Brigadier- 
General, had mustered his whole force" to present it to 
him. " What time is it ? " grumbled Roddy. " Quarter 
to seven, and we are due on the manoeuvring ground at 
seven." Roddy merely rolled himself up in his sheets. 
" All right," he muttered, " go yourself and inspect the 
troops for me ; do what you like, but / am not going 
to budge from this bed till ten o'clock." So I went to 
see the troops, and admired their splendid training and 
the perfect way in which they marched past. During the 
two following days we were feasted and entertained by 
all. We were presented to the Sultan, who made each 
of us a Knight Commander of his Order. Three days 
later we parted from our kind friends on our way to 
Europe, which we had many a time thought never to 
see again. 

I have perhaps expressed myself too candidly with 
regard to the various Administrations and people I came 
across, but whether I have been impartial or not I must 
leave to my readers to decide. I have honestly endeavoured 
to describe what I have seen, always bearing in mind 
that it is easier to find fault with men and things than 
to discover their good qualities. 
504 



TO ZANZIBAR 

I cannot say that I am satisfied with this book : now 
that it is printed I find that I have devoted too long 
a space to my own unimportant doings, and too Httle to 
the various parts of Africa that I visited. My only 
excuse is that much of it was written while I was travel- 
ling in South Africa, so that a long time often elapsed 
between the writing of two consecutive chapters. 

There remains now but to recapitulate the general 
impressions I gathered from my long journey across 
Africa, and I will attempt to do so in the two following 
chapters ; but this much I will now say — if we consider 
the partition of Africa among the great European Powers, 
it is clear that from one point of view we have acted 
like pirates, and laid violent hands on territories to which 
we had no claim whatever. The only excuse that can be 
invoked, the only atonement that can be made, lies in 
the way in which we deal with the territories we have 
acquired. To improve the natives, to develop their country, 
and to aim at increasing their welfare, is our duty — in fact, 
we must consider ourselves as their guardians and their 
trustees. In exchange for this they owe us a duty, and it 
is not too much to ask from them the use of lands that 
they cannot occupy and of minerals that they cannot 
themselves work, provided that we act fairly and justly 
towards them. For their own good they must be taught 
to work, but the choice of their masters must be left to 
them. To seize their country and to do nothing towards 
its development is criminal, and I do not hesitate to say 
that Great Britain alone has fulfilled her duty in that 
respect, and that wherever her flag has been planted, 
justice, civilization, and protection have gathered round 
it. Under it the freedom of trade, open to all, has not 
been a mere word, while she alone has respected the 
Brussels Act, to which other nations have subscribed, it 
is true, but only to evade it whenever they found a chance 
of doinp; so. 



505 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

THE NATIVES AND THE EUROPEAN POWERS 

IT was my privilege during the three years of my 
journey to witness at its very beginning what is 
probably the largest and most interesting experiment in 
government that the world has seen. Civilized nations, 
wherever they have established their rule over territories 
abroad, have usually commenced the process half uncon- 
sciously. Led into colonization either by the pressure 
of over-population at home or in some cases almost by 
accident, they have proceeded step by step, and have 
gradually extended their system of government, according 
to the developing conditions of each colony. Starting 
in many cases from a small foothold on the seashore, 
they have extended their influence only when successive 
collisions with indigenous tribes have forced them, so to 
speak, into piecemeal annexation and conquest. In other 
cases the natural growth of the colony has compelled its 
enlargement without reference to the disposition, hostile 
or otherwise, of the neighbouring natives. 

The expansion of European rule over Africa has been 
altogether in contrast to these methods. It has begun 
at quite the other end. Instead of drifting into empire, 
the European Powers have deliberately carved up Africa 
and dealt it out among themselves. Elsewhere annexa- 
tion has followed occupation ; in Africa, Europeans have 
first annexed and then proceeded to occupy. The whole 
proceeding has been deliberate ; but for international 
506 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

jealousies it might even be called unnecessary. No single 
Power was overwhelmingly anxious to take up the 
government of huge territories in savage Africa, but 
each was perfectly ready to do so rather than see the 
country pass into the hands of a rival. Each Power 
was in a position to sit down and deliberately decide 
what it would do with the sphere of influence that had 
been pegged out for it. Instead of following and being 
guided by events, each nation had more or less of a blank 
sheet on which it could inscribe the colonial system more 
or less according to its own taste and judgment. 

I say more or less, because there was one condition 
of the first importance to which all the Powers attempting 
to accomplish anything in Central Africa were bound to 
submit themselves. This condition was climate and the 
existence of the native races. The climate and the native 
together make up the principal factor to be considered 
by white governments at work in Africa. Here again 
the problem was quite different from those presented by 
other parts of the world. Other colonies may have been 
fairly populated, like North America, or almost unpopu- 
lated, like Australia, when the white man appeared upon 
the scene. But whether they were populated or not 
mattered comparatively little, for the climate was such 
that the white man could do without the native. If there 
were no natives, or few natives, so much the better. But 
however many there were they were bound to die out 
before the advance of civilization, and they were no loss. 
In Africa things are very different. Only in a compara- 
tively small part of the territory thrown open to 
Europeans could white men permanently settle. There- 
fore the country was valueless without the native. Even 
in that part — in such countries as Rhodesia, the Transvaal, 
and even the Cape Colony — although white men can 
settle and rear families, the climate is still such that a 
great deal of the more exacting work is best done by 
native hands. If the African native, therefore, were to 
507 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

be allowed to die out like the American Indian, the 
problem of African colonization was doomed to absolute 
failure. The native had to be preserved, and the task of 
preservation was no light one. It included in some cases 
his conquest, in all the gaining of his confidence, and, to 
some extent at least, his education. Here once more 
the conditions were wholly new. Europeans had before 
then occupied countries in which they were unable to 
settle permanently or to perform manual work — India, 
for example, Indo-China, and the Dutch East Indies. 
But in all these there was some sort of civilization 
existing before the Europeans appeared. The new 
master had to make that civilization conduce to his 
own ends as best he could, while careful not to destroy 
it. In Africa there was no such existing organization 
of society. In one way this fact seemed to make the 
task easier. It is simpler to build up out of nothing 
than to transform what has existed for centuries. But 
on the other hand, it must be remembered that the 
African has been what he is as long as the Indian. 
Centuries of brutish debasement are as difficult to wipe 
out as centuries of alien civilization. However, be the 
task light or heavy, it must be faced. \Be the gulf 
between white and black ever so wide and profound, it 
must somehow be bridged. Whatever progress and 
development Africa is to receive at the hands of the 
white must still be based upon the black. The first 
step, therefore, in the making of Africa must be the 
careful consideration of the native, his limitations and his 
possibilities. \ 

Between the Cape and the Equator, Africa is populated 
by the great Bantu race. This does not, however, extend 
to the extreme south, for here we find the Hottentots and 
Bushmen — doubtless the tribes which originally peopled 
Africa, and which have been pushed gradually southwards 
by the Bantu invasion. The Hottentots themselves are 
not a pure race ; they are a mixture of Bushmen and 
508 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

Bantu, and I am inclined to think that the Basuto and 
their Bechuana cousins have themselves an admixture of 
Hottentot blood. Scattered among the Bantu we find 
also the Pigmy race of the great forest of the Congo, 
whose almost impenetrable retreat has enabled them to 
resist absorption by the Bantu. The extreme limit of 
this latter race northward is the river Ubanghi. Its 
frontier thence runs gradually southward, touching Lake 
Albert Nyanza, to the northern shore of Victoria Nyanza. 
South of this line the non-Bantu races are rapidly dis- 
appearing. Of an inferior type, they are wholly unable 
to compete with their aggressors, and still less to survive 
under European civilization. Their low intelligence, idle- 
ness, and proclivity to drink will lead within a few years 
to their absolute extermination. The Pigmies of the 
Congo will doubtless be preserved for a time by their 
geographical position, but they will be equally unable 
to resist the competition of superior races. In consider- 
ing the ethnology of the southern portion of Africa, we 
may also leave out of consideration the tribes of the 
Cape Colony and of the Transvaal. These have mingled 
so much among themselves — not only Bantu with 
Hottentots and Bushmen, but also black blood with 
white, whence come such bastard races as the Griquas 
— that no profitable study can be made of their institu- 
tions. In the most southern' part of Africa the natives 
are generally spoken of collectively as Kaffirs. The 
name is suitable enough for the very reason that it is 
wholly unscientific, and designates no distinct race ; in 
truth there is no distinct race to designate. 

In these summary remarks I shall avoid as much as 
possible formulating any theories as to the origin of the 
African races, being content to give a general impression 
of those with which I came in contact. The formulation 
of primary anthropological theories I leave to the learned. 
I am afraid my general estimate of the negro race as 
specimens of the genus homo is not a lofty one. The 
509 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

contemplation of the African negro can only be agreeable 
from one point of view ; this is the consideration of him 
as a striking example of the transformation and develop- 
ment of our species. He is a kind of landmark far, far 
behind us, which shows what a distance we have advanced 
upon the road. True, the negro, meaning thereby the 
Bantu, is not the lowest type of the species. That 
distinction belongs to the bushman. The bushman is, 
perhaps, a little more developed than the anthropoid ape, 
but he remains his first cousin. He makes himself a fire, 
and we understand his language. The ape cannot make 
a fire, and at present we do not understand his language. 
That is the difference between the two. Considering this, 
it is much to be regretted that the bushman is dying out. 
He is an animal which ought to be preserved, unless he is 
to share the fate of the white rhinoceros, and disappear 
from the surface of the globe. Certainly he is not a 
valuable animal ; by instinct he is intensely malicious and 
destructive ; but from the point of view of natural history 
he is of incontestable value. 

The African black in his primitive state is hardly 
further removed from the beast. His existence centres 
itself almost wholly upon one aim — for it can hardly be 
called an ideal — eating. Thought for the morrow is 
absolutely unknown to him. Give him his food for a 
week he will devour it until he cannot gorge another 
mouthful, and then he will spoil the rest. He is as little 
conscious of the past as of the future. Things are wiped 
from his mind the moment after they have happened ; he 
is absolutely incapable of measuring time, even from the 
most recent and most important events. Only in one 
way does he bring himself into relation with the past — 
through the sentiments of fear and revenge. Gratitude is 
unknown to him. The animal affection of parents for 
their young rarely extends with the primitive African 
beyond the years of infancy ; after that the relation is 
forgotten, as it is among beasts. Love is unknown to 
510 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

him. There is no word in any Central African language 
meaning " kiss." His wives, or rather his females, are 
valued for the work which they spare him ; they bear him 
children, who also represent work avoided ; and later, in 
the case of girls, a tangible value when they are sold to 
their husbands. It is significant that the price of a 
woman is almost the same whether she is taken to wife or 
bought as a slave. The negro, indeed — I am speaking 
always of the primitive tribes — is not only ignorant of 
love, but even of lasciviousness. He couples exactly like 
a beast, and there is an end of it. 

I do not mean to imply that he is incapable of improve- 
ment. If he were, then the sooner we clear out of his 
country the better. Certainly he is superior to the ape ; 
his brain is more developed, and is therefore susceptible 
of a more rapid transformation. Even the ape, it must 
be remembered, is presumably evolving. It would be an 
interesting experiment to take several couples of apes and 
bring them up with their descendants exactly as we bring 
up children for, say, twenty or thirty generations. The 
result might be astonishing, for the ape has already some 
well-developed ideas. He has, for instance, the idea of 
property, and there are such things as monogamous apes, 
which strongly resent any aggression by their fellows upon 
their wives. If we conceive the possibility of attaining a 
measurable development in the ape within a limited series 
of generations, then such a development must be even 
more practicable in the case of the negro. For it must 
be remembered that civilization progresses with an in- 
creasing velocity. As Sir Harry Johnston has observed, 
it may have required a million years for the evolution of 
the brute into man, and half a million to raise him to the 
level of the Australian savage. On the other hand, a 
hundred years were probably enough for the development 
of the savagery of the Hamitic races into the civilization 
of the Egyptians. Consider Europe at the opening of 
this century and Europe at the present day. Is not the 
511 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

advance man has made as great as that aecomphshed by 
the savage in raising himself to the antique and primitive 
culture of Egypt ? 

It is hardly to be supposed, however, that the next 
century will see any sudden leap by the barbarous 
natives of Africa, even under tutelage, into a full- 
blown civilization. They are too far behind. Their 
whole habits of mind are entirely foreign to those 
of their white instructors. Probably the most radical 
difference is one which I have referred to again and 
again. The native has absolutely no idea of causation — 
or perhaps it would be more correct to say that heTias 
no idea of natural causation. The simplest case of this 
is death. Man after man dies in the same way, but it 
never occurs to the savage that there is one constant and 
explicable cause to account for all cases. Instead of that 
he regards each successive death as an event wholly by 
itself — apparently unexpected — and only to be explained 
by some supernatural agency. You would suppose that, 
the African expected everybody to live for ever, since his 
one explanation of death is an immediate recourse to 
witchcraft. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that every 
natural death entails a violent one as its consequence. 
Along with witchcraft and the inevitable accusation of 
sorcery when anybody dies, goes the custom of " muavi " 
— the ordeal by poison. I have said enough in the 
preceding, pages to make it plain what complete domina- 
tion this practice has got over the native mind. The 
reason is that the native thoroughly believes in its efficacy. 
My own porters have constantly offered to submit to the 
ordeal on the most trivial charges. Of course, this 
thorough belief in " muavi " hands the native over com- 
pletely defenceless to the witch-doctor. The doctor 
can get rid of anybody he likes. Besides this, he is a 
kind of public prosecutor ; that is to say, that when he 
accuses any man or woman of sorcery he is not obliged, 
like any ordinary accuser, to take the poison himself 
512 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

The first step, therefore, towards preparing the native 
mind to receive the first rudiments of civilization, not to 
say of rationahty, is to free them of the tyranny of the 
witch-doctor. The most effective way to do this, if it is 
possible, is to explain the action of rudimentary physical 
causes : whether in this way or another, the witch-doctor 
must be eradicated. 

An interesting corollary of witchcraft is cannibalism. I 
do not mean such cannibalism as that of certain Congo 
tribes, or of the Solomon Islanders, who kill people to eat 
them as we kill game. With such tribes I did not come 
into contact. But there is another form of cannibalism 
less generally known to Europeans, and perhaps even 
more grisly, which consists in digging up dead bodies to 
feast on their flesh. This practice exists largely among 
the natives in the region of Lake Nyasa. I know of a 
case in which the natives of a village in this region seized 
the opportunity of a white man's presence to break into 
the hut of one of these reputed cannibals, and found there 
a human leg hanging from the rafters. This incident 
shows that cannibalism is practised, but also that it is not 
universal with the tribes among which it is found, and is 
condemned by the public opinion of those who do not 
practise it. But public opinion in Africa is not a highly 
developed power. The real public opinion is not so much 
the feeling of the mass of the people on such a question 
as this ; the real public opinion is witchcraft. And, 
indeed, in the case of cannibalism the real public opinion 
tends to shield the perpetrators, because they are reputed 
to be witches of high quality. Therefore, although there 
is a theory that cannibals when caught should be burnt 
alive, they are hardly ever denounced even on the clearest 
evidence, for fear of their occult power. Here, then, 
again, is a piece of the deepest barbarism — not perhaps 
very widespread, but sufficiently repulsive and antagonistic 
to civilization — which depends for its existence solely 
upon witchcraft 

2 L 513 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

But if you put down witchcraft and exterminate the 
witch-doctor, what, it will be asked, are you going to 
substitute? Witchcraft is not exactly religion; it is 
rather an essential condition of thought among the 
natives ; yet it is, perhaps, the nearest approach to 
religion that they boast. The only other religious 
element in the native world is represented by the 
" musimo," or spirits of the dead. Perhaps this is a 
nearer approach to religion than the other, for witch- 
craft, after all, is supposed to be set in motion by living 
men, while the " musimo," so far as they go, are spiritual. 
But however widely spread and deeply engrained may be 
the belief in spirits, it remains perfectly true that all the 
African tribes I met with from the Zambezi to the 
Victoria Nyanza are wholly lacking in any idea of a God. 
The " musimo " may be productive of evil : sacrifices 
are offered to them to keep them in a good humour, 
or to appease them when they are angry. But there is 
no idea of a Creator or of a Supreme Cause productive 
of good as well as evil. Good, you may say, is believed 
by the African to be the normal state of things, and 
requires no supernatural explanation. It is only when 
some calamity befalls him that he looks about for a 
cause outside ordinary human agency. As for the 
control of the forces of Nature, it is not usually attributed 
to spirits, even when it brings disaster. It is ascribed 
rather to a living witch-doctor or chief 

This matter of the native's religion, or, rather, atheism, 
brings us to the question of missions and missionaries. Is 
the native mind so blank with regard to spiritual affairs 
that we may not fill the blank with Christianity as 
expounded by white missionaries, and that the native 
may not thus possess himself of a religious and moral 
standby when witchcraft disappears ? I do not say 
that this is impossible, but I do say that it is a far 
bigger task than people who sit at home and subscribe 
to missions imagine. I also say that on the whole, so 
5'4 



THE PROBLEM OE AFRICA 

far as my observation goes, the missionary is not at 
present tackling it in a right manner. ■ In saying this I 
have no intention of exalting one faith or denomination 
at the expense of another. I have a great and equal 
respect for all religions sincerely believed. Still less 
have I any intention of depreciating the missionaries 
themselves. To many of them I owe a great debt of 
kindness which it would be the height of meanness to 
minimise or deny, and I hope I shall never be guilty of 
so despicable a thought. Yet it does not follow that 
because I owe gratitude and respect individually that 
I ought therefore to disguise my opinion that in very 
many cases they are working on the wrong lines. 
Thoroughly good men they unquestionably are. Nobody 
could see them and doubt it. Hospitable and helpful to 
the white traveller, they are kindly towards the natives, 
and thoroughly earnest in their work. They are some- . 
times accused of being political agents, but that I do not 
believe. I can understand, however, how the idea gained 
credence. It is the tendency of most missionaries, 
especially those who have lived a long time in one 
country, to assimilate themselves with the natives, and 
to take a personal interest in their quarrels. Of course, 
this tendency is intensified in cases where missionaries 
of different denominations are working in the same 
country. In such cases each tries, very naturally, to 
secure the chief. The natives attached to each mission 
support their missionary, and the country is divided into 
political parties, which masquerade as religious sects. It 
may happen, again, that a missionary secures influence 
over the son or some other relative of a chief, who has 
come to learn at his station. In that case he is liable 
to urge his disciple to resist the authority of the chief 
when the latter wishes to enforce some harmless native 
custom. Supporters gather round the rebel, and civil 
war again results. The first of these cases has been 
seen in Uganda, with results that have been thoroughly 
515 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

disastrous to the natives themselves, and have reacted 
most perniciously upon the relations between English 
and French. The second case has been exemplified 
almost as perniciously in the history of Khama. 

Leaving aside the missionary and incidental results of 
missionary enterprise, let us go to the heart of the 
question, and ask whether the problem which the 
missionaries set themselves to solve can be treated in 
the way they treat it. Are the natives, in short, how- 
ever much without religion, fit to become Christians ? 
For my own part I answer emphatically " No." The fact 
that they have no conception of God, so far from making 
the extension of Christianity easy, makes it impossible. 
There may be nothing to clear away to make room for 
the ideas of Christianity, but the very fact that there is 
nothing makes religious aspiration an impossibility to 
the native. The idea is wholly outside the range of his 
mind. Before he is capable of appreciating it, his whole 
mental plane must be raised and broadened. This will 
be a matter of many years, and can only be done, not 
by distributing tracts, but by making a man of the 
African in his practical daily life. No doubt it is very 
■ easy to teach savages to sing hymns or to repeat their 
catechism ; some of them will learn to read and write 
with wonderful ease. But this is mere imitativeness, like 
that of the monkey or the parrot. It means nothing at 
all. 

To the native the Bible is simply a series of stories 
of what recently took place in the white man's country; 
so that instead of assisting civilization, the teaching of 
the Bible, by giving wholly false ideas, actually hinders 
it. The idea of the redemption of the world by Christ 
is utterly incomprehensible to the native, for no native 
has the faintest idea of self-sacrifice. Another fact which 
works strongly against any conception of a beneficent 
Creator is that the native sees nothing beautiful, wonder- 
ful, or attractive in Nature. Flowers and trees, and the 
516 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

most enchanting scenery are entirely lost upon him. A 
tree only begins to interest him when it is fit to burn. 
And yet, though he finds nothing to be enjoyed in 
Nature, he is quite satisfied with his position. All he 
wants is plenty to eat and little to do, and these wants 
are generally perfectly easy to satisfy. The African 
native is squalid, but it is a mistake to imagine him to 
be either poor or unhappy. The skin of a wild beast 
gives him clothing for half his life. The cutting of a 
few trees, the plucking of a little grass, the mixing of a 
little mud and water, is enough to make him a house. 
A few hours' work in the year, usually done by women, 
is enough to give him food. With all his wants thus' 
easily satisfied, and with no aspirations beyond them, 
what need has he of a deity? What need has he to 
explain, by the idea of a Creator, the wonders of a 
world to which he is blind ? What need ha.s he of the 
hope of happiness in a future world when he is perfectly 
happy in this ? 

And if the aim of the missionaries is difficult — for the 
present almost hopeless — of attainment, it must also be 
said that they appear to be going the wrong way to attain 
it. Much of their religious teaching is of the narrowest 
and most unprofitable kind. Here, for instance, is a list 
of leaflets furnished to Uganda by the Church Missionary 
Society : 

1. Reading sheet, with model of writing. 

2. First Catechism. 

3. Large Catechism (28 pages). 

4. Small reading sheet containing alphabet, Lord's Prayer, 

Apostles' Creed, and Ten Commandments. 

5. The Epistle to the Romans. 

6. First Epistle of John. 

Now, I ask any open-minded person to consider what 
sort of education this is. What can anybody expect to 
gain by cramming the barbarous African with the logical 
S17 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

subtleties of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans? It must 
be borne in mind that reading and writing have been 
taught in Uganda now for nearly twenty years, and that 
the people in a way have shown great aptitude. Is it not 
time that they should be educated in something a little 
wider than the curriculum quoted above? Would it not 
have been better to have taught the people something of 
the world outside Uganda — the rudimentary elements of 
geography, history, and science? 

It is to be feared, again, that the results produced by 
missionaries in the way of native converts are not any 
very high testimonial to the value of their work. Sir 
"Harry Johnston, in his book on Kilima Njaro has given 
his opinion that the native Christians of the Mombasa 
district are liars, cowards, thieves, and drunkards. From 
my own experience I should say that almost every boy 
brought up in a mission is the same. Of course, this 
result is not in any way attributable to Christianity. If 
he had been brought up in a Buddhist mission it would 
have been exactly the same. Still more monstrous would 
it be to attribute such results to anything in the nature of 
precept or example given by the missionaries themselves. 
It is not Christianity, and it is not the missionaries. It is ' 
the contact of the African nature — the nature of the ; 
brute — with white civilization. He learns the vices of [ 
the white man, but is incapable of their virtues. But the 
part in this deplorable result for which the missions may 
fairly be condemned is that they try the native too high — 
cutting away all respect for his own laws, and then leaving 
him open to all the worst influences without check or 
restraint. It is very easy to make a native a drunkard, 
but it is also very easy to make him a hypocrite. The 
missions may not directly do the first ; but with the best 
intentions I fear they very often do the second. You 
have only to go about Khama's capital and see a native 
as you approach pull out his Bible and begin to read it 
upside-down to understand the hollow character which 
518 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

is inseparable from ninety -nine hundredths of native 
Christianity. 

The truth is that in Africa it is worse than useless to 
pull down without building" up, and that building up is a 
far more tedious and thankless process than most people 
care to believe. Another mistake similar to the attempt 
at the wholesale introduction of Christianity has been the 
attempt at wholesale suppression of slavery. I know that 
in my opinions about this, as about missions, I may shock 
the feelings and incur the condemnation of many excellent 
people, but I can only say what I honestly believe. On 
this question of slavery we must make a fundamental 
distinction. Slave-raiding by Arab adventurers in the 
interior is one thing, while domestic slavery in the settled 
districts, where the Arabs have made themselves permanent 
homes, is quite another. With regard to the first, I own 
as fully as any anti-slavery society can do that it ought to 
be put down. It causes a vast amount of suffering to 
individuals, though perhaps not very much more than 
they would endure under the rule of their own chiefs and 
witch-doctors. What is worse than this, the raiders make 
any progress or settlement of the country impossible, 
because there is no incentive to be prosperous so long as 
prosperity only invites attack. But where I differ from 
the Anti-Slavery Society is that I do not for a moment 
believe that the slave trade in the interior is of anything 
like the proportions they allege it to be. I think I may 
claim to know as much of the interior of Africa as most 
professional philanthropists, and I cannot believe that if 
the slave trade existed on so enormous a scale I should 
not have seen more of it. It has been stated within the 
last eighteen months at the Mansion House that half a 
million lives were sacrificed by the African slave trade, 
while two million people were torn from their homes. 
The theory of these benevolent people appears to be that 
the Arabs march into the interior some thousands of miles, 
and return after three or four years' business with the 
519 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

proceeds of their nefarious trade. I should very much 
Hke to know how they imagine it is done. In the first 
place it would be exceedingly dangerous, if not im- 
possible ; and in the second place it would be exceedingly 
unprofitable. There are four great caravan routes from 
the interior leading to Zanzibar or Pemba. These routes 
are studded with numerous European posts, and no Arab 
with a large following could escape detection by them. 
Now caravans of any size are obliged to take one or other 
of these roads, because they pass through the most thickly 
peopled districts, and only in these can travellers get 
food. How little the spokesmen of the Anti-Slavery 
Society could have troubled to verify the truth of their 
assertions is shown by the fact that when challenged they 
quote Dr. Livingstone as their authority for the vast 
extent of the trade. Since Livingstone's time thirty years 
have elapsed, and Africa has been in the rapidest state of 
transition all the time. Things have changed enormously 
even since Mr. Stanley's last great journey. To quote 
Livingstone, in short, as an authority for the present 
condition of Africa is about as reasonable as to quote the 
novels of Fielding as a picture of English life to-day. 

Even if it were possible for the Arab to tramp 
thousands of miles and spend dozens of months in the 
quest of slaves, it would be exceedingly bad business. 
The Arab is mainly an ivory merchant, and this is the 
only business that really pays him. He starts from the 
coast with five or six hundred bales of calico with which 
to buy his wares. Now, when he returns with his ivory 
nothing could be more dangerous than to mix up slaves 
with them, since if he is caught not only will the slaves 
be set free, but the whole of his ivory will be confiscated. 
Moreover, slaves, as compared with ivory, are almost a 
worthless article of commerce. A slave will only fetch 
some ^3 to £6 at the coast ; a load of ivory about ten 
times as much. So that if an Arab arrived at Zanzibar 
with sixty slaves and sixty loads of ivory, he would get 
520 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

about ;^ 200 for the first and ;^2000 for the last. Clearly, 
then, the slave traffic would hardly pay at the best; still 
less would it be worth risking the loss of the ivory to 
secure so comparatively valueless an addition to the 
profits of the expedition. There is another reason why 
it will not pay the Arabs to raid the country for slaves. 
The natives who have secured the ivory do not keep it 
exposed in public or store it where the first looter will 
know where to find it. They bury it or hide it in some 
other way, and only produce it in small quantities for 
trade when their confidence is won. Now, if the Arabs 
attacked villages and enslaved the people, after the old 
fashion, they not only would get no ivory, but all the 
villages would be deserted for miles around, and the 
Arab would have to turn back for want of food. The 
Arab is not perfect, I know. No one pretends that he 
is a philanthropist, and I don't assert that if he saw a 
chance of picking up a* slave or two without danger he 
would not take it. But I do assert that in business 
matters he is no fool, and a fool he would certainly be 
if he conducted the systematic business in slaves which 
is laid to his charge. That such slave trade as still 
exists should be gradually suppressed I fully believe, 
but the way to do this is to develop legitimate trade, 
and to establish regular communications and such 
administration of justice as the country is fit for. These 
measures have already succeeded, as I have explained, 
in enormously decreasing the volume of the slave trade, 
and they may safely be left to stamp out what still 
remains. 

The question of domestic slavery is wholly different. 
The British Government is loudly called upon from time 
to time to abolish this institution in Zanzibar and Pemba, 
which are under its protectorate. I think that so violent 
a course would be simple madness. It would amount to 
an economic revolution, sweeping away the whole fabric 
of industrial society and putting nothing in its place. 
521 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

The whole business of Zanzibar and Pemba would be 
utterly ruined. The country would be made impassable 
by emancipated blacks turned sturdy beggars and 
brigands. More than that, the sudden abolition of 
slavery would mean utter ruin to the blacks themselves. 
Its effect would be somewhat similar to that of the 
premature emancipation of the serfs in Russia, only 
far more disastrous.* The slave, in short, is, in the first 
place, unable to stand on his own legs as a free man, 
and, in the second place, unwilling to do so. He has 
to work for his master, no doubt, but in return his 
master acknowledges special obligations towards him. 
The free labourer is the creature of the laws of supply 
and demand. If the quality and quantity of his work 
is insufficient to buy him food and clothing and shelter, 
he must starve. The slave, on the other hand, is main- 
tained by his master through disability, sickness, and 
old age. True, he has no civil or political rights, but 
then he does not want any. In his own country he had 
none, and he wants none now. In his own country his 
life was in hourly imminent danger from chief or witch- 
doctor, war, and the ordeal by poison. Before he reaches 
the age of manhood his life is wholly dependent on his 
father's. If his father is killed from any of the causes 
mentioned, the children are promptly sent to follow him. 
Still less is it a hardship to be separated from his family. 
To suppose that the African negro pines for those he 
loves is utterly absurd, because he loves nobody but 
himself The maternal affection itself is little more 
-^than brutish instinct, and lasts, as with the brute, only 
as long as the child is incapable of taking care of 
itself 

Slavery, therefore, is no hardship to the negro, nor does 
he pretend that it is. I have had many opportunities 
of finding out from slaves themselves the feelings which 

* This step has lately been taken by the British Government, and the result 
has been that many of the rich Arabs have crossed over into German territory. 
522 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

they entertain towards their masters. On my journey 
from Ujiji to Victoria Nyanza I came across many slaves, 
as I have already recounted, who either had been left 
in villages by their Arab masters because they were 
sick and unable to go on, or had run away for the 
same reason. If the chief brought me a boy who had 
thus come into his care, I put before him the choice of 
three courses. " Which do you wish to do," I asked ; 
" to go back to your own village, stay where you are, 
or go back to your Arab master ? " The invariable 
reply was that the slave wished to go back to his 
master. " But you need not go unless you want," I 
used to say, " and if you do he will very likely sell you 
to another Arab." " I don't mind," the slave would say, 
" as long as I am sold to an Arab." The truth is that 
the slave, as compared to the hired servant or porter, 
enjoys a proud and comfortable position. They describe 
themselves with great satisfaction as " the people " of such 
and such an Arab, while all other natives they call by 
the derogatory name of savages. They never carry a 
load when on the march with their own masters. I 
often had, however, in my caravan, a number of slaves 
belonging to Zanzibar Arabs, who came voluntarily to 
engage themselves, and whose masters I never even saw. 
I asked several of them how it was that, being slaves, 
they were allowed to go about as they liked, "Why 
not ? " they all answered. " We are not children, but 
grown men. When our work is over we shall go back 
to our masters, and there we shall find our wiv^es and 
children." " But what will you do then ? " I would ask. 
" If our master has work for us to do," they would reply, 
"we shall do it. If there is war, we shall fight for 
him. If there is no work to do we shall engage our- 
selves with some other white man. And when we are 
too old we shall rest while the younger ones work," 

The truth is that the African native, being a grown-up 
child, is very much better off with a master to make him 
523 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

work, and at the same time to take care of him, than he 
would be if left to himself I am all for the regulation of 
slavery ; for the gradual reduction of the master's rights 
over the slave ; and for giving the slave an opportunity of 
redeeming himself, if by any strange chance he should 
wish to do so. But I am not in favour of taking away 
the only guarantee he has that he will be looked after by 
his employer, and of handing him over to the tender 
mercies of his worst enemy — himself 

The same sort of considerations as apply to religion 
and slavery forbid the violent interference with certain 
other features of native African life. The instant sup- 
pression of polygamy, for example, would mean the 
extinction of nine out of every ten native races, and that 
for a sufficiently obvious reason. It is very rare, as I have 
already pointed out more than once in the course of my 
anthropological chapters, to find a tribe whose women 
average more than two or three children apiece. Con- 
sidering the enormous infant mortality — of which the 
European can hardly form an idea — the restriction of one 
man to one wife would mean a rapidly dwindling 
population and the steady disappearance of the race. It 
is true, of course, that under European rule the influences 
which produce this awful infant mortality may be 
expected gradually to disappear. Witchcraft will be put 
down ; the sins of the fathers will no more be visited 
upon the innocent children ; native wars and the slave 
trade will gradually be made impossible. But there still 
remains the insanitary, not to say bestial, life of the 
native, and this, though doubtless it will be mitigated in 
time, is likely to go on reaping its crop of death for at 
least a generation, and probably a century. The wise 
administrator, therefore, will take care that the restriction 
and ultimate abolition of polygamy does not move faster 
than the influences which will make polygamy un- 
necessary. 

It may, indeed, be said generally that any attempts to 
524 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

raise the native code of morality must be made with the 
greatest caution, unless they are to do more harm than 
good. The native knows nothing of morality. In its 
place he puts the idea of property. Take the case of sex.'^ 
After marriage a woman belongs to the husband who has 
bought and paid for her. Before marriage she is perfectly 
free to conduct herself as she likes, and should she have 
children that only increases her market value. So, again, 
the idea of expiation is wholly strange to the African, and 
it would seem a monstrous thing to him that a man should 
be killed merely because he has killed another. What 
killing there is, is usually done from the simplest utilitarian 
motives — in war, for example, or to prevent a man doing 
harm by witchcraft. But the proper penalty in African 
eyes for ordinary murder is the payment of a price. The 
murderer has destroyed a piece of property, and must 
make it good to the relatives of his victim, who are 
considered to have a sort of ownership in him. You 
must pay more for a man than for a woman, and 
more for a woman than a child. If you cannot pay, 
then your relatives, as having a sort of ownership in 
you, must pay for you. On the other hand, you are at 
perfect liberty to kill your own wife or your own slave : 
they are yours, and with what is yours you may do as 
you like. These ideas have grown into the native mind 
for centuries. Any attempt, therefore, to graft European 
ideas of jurisprudence on to native minds could only be 
entirely disastrous. The laws there are would be over- 
turned ; while for the new laws there would be neither 
support, sympathy, nor even comprehension. 

All these considerations will give some idea of the 
enormous difficulty presented by the native side of 
the African problem. Without the native you could do 
nothing ; without improving the native you could do 
hardly anything. Yet if you try to improve the native 
too quickly you will make him ten times more impossible 
to do with than he was before. 
525 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

As for the first step in his regeneration I have very 
Httle doubt. He must be made to work — a pursuit at 
present absolutely distasteful to him and almost unknown. 
The influence of steady work is the best education for 
him in his present state — is, indeed, all the education he 
is at present fit for. The influence of labour will make 
itself felt in every direction. It will steady the native, 
and urge him to settle and make himself a home. It will 
tend to the suppression of slavery, because when each 
man learns to work for himself slavery is no longer 
necessary. It will tend to the material prosperity of the 
country, and thus furnish funds which the white master 
can employ in keeping order and establishing a regular 
administration. Best of all, the habit of labour will bring 
the native into contact with these same white masters. 
And supposing the native is justly and firmly treated — for 
this condition is essential to any kind of education — it will 
instil confidence, inspire respect, and hold up before the 
savage an example of a superior standard of comfort 
which he may in time be impelled to try to obtain for 
himself We must create needs in the native — needs that 
he will have to work to supply. If anybody considers 
this brutal .and cold-blooded exploitation of the black, 
I should like to ask him in what else but the development 
and satisfaction of new needs the course of civilization 
consists ? 

The first and most vital duty of European powers in 
barbarous Africa is that, so far as possible, they should 
pursue a common policy with regard to the natives, and 
above all that they should not present to him a spectacle of 
quarrels and even warfare among themselves. The process 
of the partition of Africa has been perplexing enough to 
the native mind without any further complication. As 
soon as a sphere of influence was allotted to a European 
power its emissaries hastened to occupy it. A white man 
appeared, gave the chief a present, and asked him to make 
a cross at the bottom of a piece of paper, at the same 
526 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

time giving him a coloured piece of calico (a flag) to hang 
up on the top of a pole. Presently another white man 
came along, produced another paper and another piece of 
coloured material to hang up on a pole. The chief had 
no idea what it was all about. It appeared a great waste 
of calico to hang it on a pole ; but he was willing to do 
anything in reason, so long as he got his present. But 
sometimes the first white man came back, and was very 
angry to find his piece of calico taken down from the pole. 
Then the chief was either killed or taken away or deposed 
and all his cattle seized as a fine. At other times a white 
man would suddenly appear with soldiers and porters. 
The chief would hasten joyfully to his camp in the 
hope of receiving a present, and would be informed 
that the country now belonged, for example, to the Sultan 
of the Germans— that he must pay so many tusks of 
ivory a year and build so many houses, and supply food 
for the white men who were coming to protect him. The 
natives did not quite know what it all meant. They could 
not make out how the country had suddenly come to belong 
to somebody else, of whom they had never heard ; and they 
had no particular desire to be protected. But the white 
man said so, and the white man was a sort of god, and the 
natives usually submitted. All this was puzzling enough ; 
but sometimes the case was even stranger. The diplo- 
matists who divided Africa treated it as unoccupied land, 
and drew their frontiers in long' straight lines, entirely 
ignoring the existence of the natives. The result was, 
of course, that most of the frontier lines cut states or 
tribes in two. Hence arose no end of difficulties. How 
could the natives be expected to understand that one half 
of the tribe was to belong, let us say, to England, and the 
other half to Germany ? If war arose — and this was just 
the sort of complication to end in war — either nation 
found it impossible to subdue the revolting chief As 
soon as one side of the frontier became too hot to hold 
him he bolted over to the other. No doubt it would be 
527 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

possible for the officials of the nation in whose territory 
he had taken refuge to seize him and hand him back to 
his pursuers. It would also be possible to allow the 
pursuers to follow him up over the frontier. This, how- 
ever, would be a very strong measure, and would almost 
certainly lead to grave difficulties ; while the handing over 
of fugitive chiefs might even appear in the light of 
abetting oppression, and would be almost as objectionable. 
The true remedy for difficulties of this kind lies, I think, 
in the rectification of frontiers. This is a lengthy and 
laborious business, and it involves a complete and 
detailed knowledge of the local conditions in each 
several case ; but I think it offers the only satisfactory 
settlement. 

But the want of union between the civilized Powers 
may lead to even more disastrous consequences. The 
perplexities of annexation and divided allegiance are 
bad enough, but when it comes to white men fighting 
among themselves, or murdering one another in cold 
blood, the result is lowering to white reputation for 
hundreds of miles around. To the native there is no 
such thing as distinction between nationalities of white 
men, and indeed the distinction is apt to become a very 
slight one in the eyes of European travellers themselves. 
There is only room in Africa for one line of partition — 
black and white. If white men fight among themselves, 
one side must be beaten. The native then sees that 
white men are not invincible, and he is encouraged to 
see if he cannot beat them himself 

But far worse than any fighting between white men 
in Africa is such an appalling blunder, to say nothing 
of its criminality, as the recent murder of Mr. Stokes. 
I have already given a few examples which came under 
my notice of the way in which the officers of the Congo 
State go about their business. Thanks to the detestable 
system of giving them a commission on the ivory and 
rubber they bring in, the expeditions of these officers 
528 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

are little better than the worst raids of the slave-dealing 
Arabs. The Congo State is a vast irresponsible com- 
mercial company, with the King of the Belgians as its 
managing director, and the business of the company 
pursued through its agents — these officers — is systematic 
loot. The result is bad enough even from the point of 
view of the Congo State itself, for it means the rapid 
exhaustion of the country. The elephant is being 
exterminated to satisfy the greed of the officer, who 
wants his commission. This same legalised blackmailer 
will appear in a village and demand so much rubber in 
such a time, on pain of execution for the chief and 
destruction for the village. The chief sends out his 
men in a hurry to get the rubber. Instead of making 
incisions in the creeper, they cut down a whole plant 
and bring in the whole of its gum. The Belgian takes 
his commission for a plant which has taken hundreds of 
years to grow, and which is destroyed for ever. So with 
the coffee plantations. The officer receives a premium on 
the number of bushes he plants and rears. He gets his 
money at the end of three or four years, and then clears 
out. His successor is not going to waste his time looking 
after the old plants when he can get a premium by 
planting new ones. So he leaves the established plants 
to run wild, and there is so much time and labour 
wasted. 

All this is bad enough, but it concerns only the Congo 
State itself. But when it comes to such outrages as 
the murder of Mr. Stokes, and when it is quite impossible 
to bring the perpetrator of such a murder to justice, then 
the State becomes a menace to the authority, and even 
the existence, of white men throughout the whole of 
Africa. Very few people realize who Mr. Stokes was, 
and what a prodigious stir his murder must have 
produced through an enormous tract of country. From 
Tabora to the Victoria Nyanza, throughout the whole 
of Unyamwezi and Usikuma, there never was, and never 
2 M 529 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

will be, another man, white or black, so well known 
and so highly honoured as Stokes. In all this district 
he was regarded as the real chief. I have met with 
numerous proofs of this in my own experience. One 
day in Unyamwezi I came to a village which, as usual, 
had been deserted by the inhabitants on my approach. 
They thought I was a German. I discovered the old 
chief, and when he found that I was an Englishman — 
for to the native mind in this country every white man 
who is not a German must necessarily be an English- 
man — he began to complain bitterly of the Germans. 
"The Germans are bad men," he said; "they make us 
give them all our food, beat our men, ravish our women, 
and drive away our cattle. Why does Stokesi allow 
them to come into his country ? " " But this is not 
Stokes's country," I said ; " it belongs to the Germans." 
" Oh, no," he said ; " you don't know. I tell you this is 
Stokesi's country. He is our Sultan. He is the Sultan 
of all the country up to the lake, and he would never 
have allowed the Germans to come if he had known what 
bad men they were. Before they came only Englishmen 
passed through the country, Stokesi's brothers, good 
men like him. If the people had known you were 
English they would not have fled, for they know that 
Englishmen do not steal. They pay for what they take. 
They are good men, like Stokesi." At another place 
messengers came to meet me from the chief. He had 
heard that a good man was coming, and concluded that 
it was Stokes. He wished Stokes to come to his village 
because he had a difference with another chief. They 
had not fought, because Stokes did not approve of 
fighting, but they wanted him to settle the case. All 
through this country there was no slave-dealing, and no 
demand for payment on passing through the country 
such as I found in other parts. Stokes had changed 
all that. Now this district had previously been a byword 
among African travellers for the extortions practised by 
530 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

the natives. So that from this fact alone it can easily 
be seen how enormous was Stokes's influence. So much 
was this so that Major von Wissman, the best ad- 
ministrator of German East Africa, appointed Stokes 
commissioner for that part of the country. 

Now if the accusations of gun-running brought against 
Stokes by the Congo State officials were as demonstra- 
tively true as they were almost certainly false, it still 
remains a monstrous crime to hang a man so universally 
honoured before the eyes of every native who cared to 
see. I may not admire the Germans in all their 
methods in Africa, but I am bound to say that a 
German officer when complaining to me — erroneously I 
think — that an Englishman was helping the Masai 
against his people, always added, " It is a pity nothing 
can be done ; but then, it would never do to shoot a 
white man in Africa." If you remember that the natives 
are only grown up children, it can be seen in a moment 
how perfectly true this is. The country is held by a 
handful of white men, whose power is wholly based 
upon their prestige. The moment that prestige dis- 
appears, white rule in Africa will be a thing of the 
past. If the natives understood that white men can be 
murdered with impunity, they will rise and try to do a 
little murder on their own account. How serious such 
a rising may be it only needs the recent experience in 
Matabeleland to prove. And Matabeleland, it must be 
remembered, had a relatively large white population, 
whereas the countries to the north have but a man or 
two scattered here and there. A rising would mean 
the massacre of all these men, and the sacrifice of 
many more European lives before it was put down. 
Such atrocities, therefore, as the murder of Stokes are 
more than common crimes. They are outrages upon 
the prestige of white men throughout Africa, whose 
consequences it is impossible to measure or to over- 
estimate 

531; 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

Enough, then, of the case of Stokes, for after all it 
is not of general application to African nations. Wars 
between one European Power and another it might be 
necessary to give warnings against, but such a cold- 
blooded murder as this is possible, I believe, in the 
Congo State alone among African territories. Perhaps 
I may add here a few other suggestions which it seems 
to me the Powers interested in Africa might profitably 
adopt, and if possible adopt in concert. The first aim, 
naturally, in opening up a savage territory, is to improve 
the means of communication. The number of railways 
projected, or actually under construction, in the countries 
of Central Africa is considerable ; but railways, after all, 
take years to build, are very expensive, and cannot be 
expected to render any immediate return for the money 
invested in them. Instead of discussing their creation 
for years, and then waiting more years for their comple- 
tion, would it not be better to set to work at once and 
open up roads in the meantime .-* This need not be 
more than a track some six feet wide. To make it 
wider would be a mistake, as the natives would then 
make a narrower track along the road as they passed 
from side to side to avoid such obstacles as stones 
or fallen branches. Such road would of course have 
to be kept up, as otherwise they would be overgrown 
in a few months, like the celebrated Stevenson Road 
from Nyasa to Tanganika, and it would be as much 
trouble as to make a new one. But the mere fact of 
having fairly direct tracks, instead of the innumerable 
windings of the native footpaths, would be an enormous 
addition to the facilities of African travel. The supply 
of water ought to be improved along this line, and made 
permanent at intervals of a dozen miles or so. At 
longer intervals, say from lOO to 150 miles, I would 
suggest the establishment of small trading stations with 
a small garrison. The advantages of this plan, could 
it be realized, would be manifold. It would be a heavy 
532 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

blow at the slave trade, as the leaders of caravans would 
be obliged to take the road and pass through the stations, 
and they could not be seen with slaves in their posses- 
sion. This plan would also put an end to the trick of 
demanding " hongo," or passage dues, since chiefs would 
no longer attempt to levy this if they knew that there 
was a military station within a week's march of them. 

Another and perhaps even more important gain from 
the establishment of such stations would be that by their 
means a coinage might be introduced. Probably the 
greatest obstacle to the development of trade and 
industry in Africa is the cumbrous and almost impos- 
sible system of using beads and calico as a currency. 
A market might be held at intervals of, say a week, 
at each of the trading stations I have suggested. The 
first steps towards this have already been taken by the 
much-abused Arabs. There are markets in the Unyonga 
Valley with a currency consisting of strings of blue and 
white beads of a certain shape. To these markets the 
natives bring their produce from a long distance. The 
Arabs introduced smaller markets in Uganda with a 
currency of cowries, and here again trade has been very 
brisk. The Portuguese established a similar institution in 
their best days. I have already spoken of their fairs or 
markets (fereiras), and it is noticeable that as they were 
neglected and declined, the Portuguese power declined 
also. It will, of course, be useless to attempt to intro- 
duce a currency unless the natives have opportunities of 
exchanging it for things they value, such as calico, 
beads, and wire. Otherwise the coinage will be like the 
issue of banknotes with no gold to redeem them. In 
order to give a real value to the coins issued — none of 
which would need to exceed fivepence in value — it will 
be well that the various Governments should agree 
among themselves that they will limit the use of coins 
to a fixed sum, and that they will exchange these coins 
for gold within a limited number of years. It would, 
533 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

of course, be an immense advantage that all the coins 
issued, whether by one nation or another, should be of 
the same value. 

There are many other questions which the European 
Powers in Africa will have to grapple with if their 
domination is to prove of real service to the country. 
One of these is the question of the ivory trade. Ivory 
is at present the principal source of revenue in most 
Central African territories, and its very value tends of 
course to the indiscriminate killing of elephants. Now 
whether we look merely to commerce, or also admit 
the possibility that the elephants may some day be 
utilized as beasts of burden, it is plain that the extinc- 
tion of this beast would be the heaviest of calamities, 
and that it ought to be carefully preserved. On this 
ground, as well as others, the sale to the native of 
firearms and ammunition should be absolutely pro- 
hibited. The danger is not so much the native's skill 
with his gun, for he usually has none, but the 
confidence which the possession of firearms inspires in 
him, and which emboldens him to fight against the 
white. 

Without going any further into this and similar 
questions, it will be recognized at once that none of them 
could be efficiently dealt with except by all the African 
Powers acting in concert. Without such concert it will 
be impossible for the white man, unless after prodigious 
efforts and the lapse of very many years, to justify his 
presence in Africa, Besides this there is the danger — no 
imaginary one, as more than one case in recent history 
has shown — that the African question might conceivably 
lead to a European war, I do not believe myself that 
the possession of the whole of Africa would compensate 
any single nation for such a calamity. With a view to 
rendering it impossible in any case, a permanent Inter- 
national Commission might be appointed to deal with 
African affairs. Questions in dispute regarding Africa 
534 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

might be profitably submitted to this body, not necessarily 
for arbitration — although if arbitration was desired it would 
offer a tribunal ready-made— but, at any rate, for expert 
advice. Such a body would be the natural source for 
combined measures to deal with the question of firearms, 
intoxicating liquors, regulation of the ivory trade, the 
suppression of the slave trade, and the like. It could 
draw up a scheme for the establishment of a coinage. 
In the delimitation of frontiers its knowledge and expert 
advice would be of the greatest possible value. By means 
of such a body I most firmly believe it would be possible 
to give an enormous impetus to the development of 
Africa, with the smallest possible risk of collision through 
one Power's jealousy of another. 

I think all these points are deserving of some attention, 
because I feel that the territories of Central Africa cannot 
afford to throw away a single chance. They have been 
so much before the public of Europe of late years, and 
have been so keenly competed for by various nations, that 
they have obtained quite a fictitious value in the public 
eye. When everybody is struggling for a thing, it is 
natural that everybody should think it worth attaining at 
almost any cost. But the truth is that the value of those 
parts of Africa through which I passed has been greatly 
over-estimated. If it is to be worth the while of the 
European Powers to govern and exploit these territories, 
they cannot afford to throw away a single ounce of energy 
in friction one with another. Considering the enormous 
distances and difficulties of transport, about which I have 
already said enough, it is fairly plain that it is only by 
co-operation, instead of mutual jealousy, that Africa can 
be made to pay its way in the very slightest degree. 



535 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 
THE POLITICAL SITUATION 

I WILL now try to recapitulate the general inripression 
I gathered from my three years' journey. On the 
whole I was much astonished to find the Dark Continent 
so different from what I had conceived after reading the 
accounts of Livingstone, Stanley, Burton, Speke, and many 
others. What struck me most was the actual state of 
development of this vast continent, absolutely unknown 
fifty years ago, and still in its savage state ten years 
before I visited it. 

The modern history of Africa can be divided into 
three great periods. First the Livingstone-Stanley Era, 
from 1850 to 1875. This period was one of discovery. 
Till then, the interior of Africa was considered as 
a desert extending from the Pyramids to the Orange 
River. Livingstone was the first to prove the fallacy, of 
this theory. His remarkable journey from the Cape to 
the Portuguese settlements of the West Coast, and thence 
along the Zambezi from its sources to its mouth, began 
to enlighten the world with regard to the nature of the 
interior of Africa. His further wanderings resulted in the 
discovery of Lake Nyasa and Lake Bangweolo, and in the 
better knowledge of Lake Tanganika, first discovered 
by Burton and Speke. It is probable that if Livingstone 
had worked upon a more systematic plan he might have 
added much to his discoveries. The rumour of his loss 
was not, however, without good results, for it brought in 
536 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

the field the greatest of explorers, Mr. Stanley. I certainly 
place him far above Livingstone ; but while recognizing 
the greatness of Livingstone's work — for it must be 
acknowledged that with the means at his command he 
achieved remarkable results — one cannot help regretting 
that he should have declined the help offered to him, 
and that he should have persisted in roaming about the 
country wasting much valuable time in going in search of 
what he imagined to be the Nile, a mere supposition based 
on no actual proofs. 

We find him spending months and months at Nyangwe, 
persuaded that the Luapula was the Upper Nile. He was 
then unable to follow the river down its course, but when 
he returned to Ujiji and was met there by Mr. Stanley, 
bringing him supplies of all sorts, it is hard to understand 
why he did not return to Nyangwe in order to follow the 
river he had discovered there until he had determined 
its connection with the Nile. Instead of that he started 
for the south in the hope of discovering the sources of the 
river that he considered to be the Nile, and died near Lake 
Bangweolo. 

Mr. vStanley's method was a very different one. He 
knew no more of the interior of Africa than Livingstone 
did, but he was determined to avail himself of that know- 
ledge to work by the method of elimination. Speke and 
Grant had proved that the Nile flows out of Lake Victoria 
Nyanza. In order to determine if the Luapula, discovered 
by Livingstone, was the real source of the Nile, it was 
necessary to ascertain if a large river flowed into Lake 
Victoria Nyanza. Mr. Stanley, therefore, proceeded to this 
lake, determined, if he found a large river flowing into it, 
to follow it up until he had reached Nyangwe. In that case 
the Luapula would evidently be the upper waters of the 
Nile, and there would only remain to follow the river from 
Nyangwe to its sources. In this way the problem that 
puzzled Livingstone for so many years would be solved. 
Mr. Stanley, therefore, circumnavigated Lake Victoria 
537 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

Nyanza, but, with the exception of three or four com- 
paratively insignificant rivers, he found no stream of first- 
class importance flowing into the Victoria Nyanza. He 
therefore made up his mind to find out where the giant 
Lualabu, running northwards more than 1500 miles from 
any sea, found its ultimate outlet, and directed his steps 
towards Nyangwe. There he began his long journey 
down stream. What he would encounter on his way 
was absolutely unknown to him. Even the Arabs, those 
first pioneers of the interior of Africa, had hardly been 
further than one hundred miles north of Nyangwe. For 
months the plucky, indefatigable explorer made his way 
down stream with a handful of devoted followers. He 
discovered mighty falls, he crossed dangerous cataracts, 
almost daily he had to repel the attacks of savage 
cannibals, and three years after leaving Zanzibar he 
reached the mouth of the Congo, after . innumerable 
dangers, and after conquering all the obstacles he had 
met from man, beast, and nature. During these three 
years he had not come across a single white man; for 
three years he had been unable to obtain fresh supplies of 
goods or ammunition. Only those who have a thorough 
knowledge of the interior of Africa can realize what such 
a journey means. As I said in my introduction, I do not, 
like so many travellers, claim the title of explorer. If 
such a term were applied to me, what word would fitly 
describe Mr. Stanley? With his journey across Africa 
and his discovery of the Congo the first era of the 
modern history of Africa closes. The great lines of the 
geography of this vast continent have been laid. Some 
discoveries still remain to be made, but these will hence- 
forth be secondary ones. 

A new era now begins — the Stanley Era — the practical 
application of the discoveries previously made. On his 
return to Europe Mr. Stanley was determined to organize 
and administer the vast territories which he had dis- 
covered and which owed their value to the Congo. 
538 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

There, immense quantities of india-rubber were lying idle 
in the forests ; thousands of tons of ivory were accumulated 
in the native villages, the people having no conception of 
its value, and using it to make pestles for grain and snuff. 
On his way down the Congo Mr. Stanley had seen hundreds 
of villages abandoned, fertile fields overgrown with weeds 
— the result of intertribal wars. He dreamt of bringing 
peace where war was constantly raging, he dreamt of 
steamers navigating the magnificent waterway he had dis- 
covered, of bringing to Europe all the india-rubber, all the 
ivory then rotting or lying idle in a country extending 
thousands of miles from the coast, and of creating a new 
market for European trade. In vain he offered to add this 
magnificent territory to the Colonial Empire of his native 
country, Great Britain. His countrymen treated him as a 
visionary, and others even called him a liar ; but what 
England refused to do, the King of the Belgians promised 
to undertake out of his private purse. Mr. Stanley then 
returned to Africa, and there founded the Congo Free 
State. Stations were built, steamers were launched, and 
patrolled the river right up to Stanley Falls in the heart 
of Africa. English, French, Portuguese, and Arab traders 
opened out trading stations and daily penetrated further 
into the interior along the affluents of the Congo. Over 
that immense territory of 900,000 square miles Mr. Stanley 
ruled as absolute master : but he was not a mere passive 
-administrator; he gave his orders and went himself to see 
that they were carried out. His work was closely watched 
by all the great European Powers, and the great free trade 
area conceived by him was, as we all know, soon after 
accepted by them. Unfortunately he required a well- 
deserved rest after all his labours, and he was compelled 
to go home. With him disappeared the great chief, and 
he had hardly reached Europe when all his chosen subor- 
dinates were eliminated and replaced by inexperienced 
young men who all wanted to be kings in their district. 
Money was squandered, atrocities were committed and 
539 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

remained unpunished and unexposed, until the murder of 
the unfortunate Stokes revealed to the astonished world 
what was going on in this once promising State. 

When Mr. Stanley gave up the Governorship of the 
Congo Free State, the European Powers — struck by the 
results he had obtained in so short a time — began to realize 
the possibilities offered by the Great Continent, and rushed 
forward to annex it — like a pack of hyaenas who have just 
scented a herd of goats. At first Great Britain alone stood 
aloof. The Government, the House of Commons, failed 
to grasp the enormous value of the country. In the first 
rush the Germans were the most active : the German 
Colonial Society, supported by Prince Bismarck, sent 
representatives west, south, and east, with orders to secure 
everything they could lay hands on. To acquire territory, 
and as much as they possibly could, seemed at first to be 
their sole object. By a trick, and owing to the apathy of 
the British Government, they laid hands on the Cameroons ; 
they compelled the Sultan of Zanzibar to transfer to them 
his rights on the East Coast, and when the Cape Colony 
declined to take charge of Damaraland they hastened 
to annex it. Fortunately, what the British Government 
failed to do was accomplished by private citizens. 

Sir William Mackinnon had secured the rights over the 
fertile plateaux of the Masai country, and thus stopped 
the advance of the Germans north of Kilima Njaro. 
With patriotic unselfishness he — at enormous expense — 
occupied Uganda, and saved it also from the ever grasping 
Germans : the latter, it is true, had secured an immense 
stretch of country right up to Lake Tanganika, but, to 
use one of Lord Salisbury's striking expressions, this 
territory consists of very light soil. As I said just now, 
through the extraordinary apathy of the Cape Govern- 
ment they established themselves in Damaraland, of little 
value as a colony, giving them a footing in South Africa. 

There remained then but one region — an enormous one 
— that had not yet been secured. Its value was immense, 
540 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

as it consisted of a series of high and fertile plateaux, 
and was well known as a rich gold-bearing country. 
Germans, Portuguese, and Boers were casting covetous 
glances towards it, and this wealthy country — Lo Bengula's 
dominions — would have been lost to the British Empire 
had not Mr. Rhodes intervened. He was always urging 
the British Government to annex it, but the Ministers 
shrank from the responsibility and possible expenditure. 
At last Mr. Rhodes heard positive news that the Boers 
were about to send an embassy to Lo Bengula, whose 
object was to make a treaty with him. At once Mr. 
Rhodes went to the Governor and High Commissioner, 
Sir Hercules Robinson, and pointed out to him the 
imminent danger. Sir Hercules acknowledged the truth 
of Mr. Rhodes's warning, but at the same time stood 
perplexed. 

" What do you want me to do ? " he said to Mr. Rhodes. 
" I can't annex the country ; what then do you want me 
to do?" 

" A very simple thing," replied Mr. Rhodes ; " send a 
Commissioner and make a passive treaty with Lo Ben. 
You can promise to help him in case he should be 
attacked, and in exchange get him to undertake not to 
dispose of his territory nor to grant any concession to any 
foreign Power or private individuals without the previous 
consent of the British Government." 

This suggestion was at once acted upon and Mr. Moffat 
sent out as Commissioner. He obtained Lo Ben's 
signature to the treaty, and the very day after it had 
been signed the Boer envoy reached Bulawayo only to 
find that he had been forestalled. 

But Mr. Rhodes's conception extended far beyond the 
mere npminal control of the country. He was determined 
to expel savagery from the south of the Zambezi. The 
extension of the British Empire towards the north had 
been a long matured plan of his. It was due to his 
efforts that Stellaland and Goschenland were rescued from 
541 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

the grasp of the Boers : the Warren expedition was 
suggested by him. This reminds me of a story that I heard 
from Mr. Rhodes's own hps and that is worth mentioning. 
When Sir Charles Warren's expedition had occupied the 
country, Mr. Rhodes — who was Commissioner — was con- 
stantly interviewed by Boer farmers anxious to know 
what would happen to them and their property. They 
used to swear that they would never become British 
subjects, and were in a state of great excitement. One 
day an unusual number of Boer farmers were talking to 
Mr. Rhodes under a tree, and making loud protests as 
usual. An old Boer then interrupted them — 

" Look here, friends," he said, " it 's no use talking 
as you do : after all, what does the question amount to ? 
If we accept the British Government we retain our farms, 
if we don't we lose them. As to talking to Mr. Rhodes, 
it's no use. The question is not merely the possession 
of a few millions of morgen more or less. No ; two men 
only understand the value of this land — Rhodes and 
myself. This is the key to the north, and Rhodes knows 
it ; he '11 never give it up. I know him well ; he 's youngj 
but he 's stubborn ! " 

But to return to Matabeleland. Mr. Rhodes had pre- 
vented, for some time at least, the occupation of the 
country by a foreign Power, but, according to the rule laid 
down by Lord Salisbury himself, no Power could maintain 
its claim to a territory in Africa unless such claim was 
substantiated by effective occupation. To attain this 
object, and to do so peacefully, was now the problem to 
be solved. Mr. Rhodes secured a concession from Lo Ben 
through Messrs. Rudd, Thompson, and Maguire, and 
having formed a company to work the concession, he 
obtained a charter from the Queen. The pioneer expedi- 
tion was organized, and at the end of 1890 the British 
flag was flying one thousand miles north of Kimberley. 
I have described in Chapter IX., p. 198, the occupation 
of Mashonaland, and I need not refer to it a second time. 
542. 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

But Mr. Rhodes did not merely intend to stop at the 
Zambezi. North of it were wealthy regions still un- 
occupied: he first secured the Barotse and its dependencies 
by a concession from the King, Lewanika. It was about 
that time that, while talking with Sir William Harcourt, 
this statesman said to him — throwing up his arms in 
despair — 

"But where do you mean to stop? Is not the Zambezi 
far enough north for you ? Where else can you go ? " 

" It strikes me," replied Mr. Rhodes, " that you do not 
know your geography. Look here," added Mr Rhodes, 
taking a map of Africa that lay open on the table, 
" What do you see here ? — Lake Tanganika ; to the west 
of it the Belgians have pegged out the country : to the 
east the Germans lay claim to it — but up to there I mean 
it to be British territory. You asked me just now where 
I meant to stop — now you know it ; the only reason why 
I don't mean to go farther up is that I can't." 

And as Mr. Rhodes had said, so he did. But, busy with 
the development of the country south of the Zambezi, 
he did not lose sight of what ought to be done to open 
out the northern territory of the Company. The natural 
road to it was through Nyasaland, that had been shortly 
before added to the empire through the untiring efforts 
of Sir Harry Johnston. Mr. Rhodes entrusted him with 
the administration of the Company's northern possessions, 
and granted him a yearly subsidy of ^15,000, soon in- 
creased to ^17,000. It was chiefly this money that enabled 
Sir Harry Johnston to lay the foundation of the British 
Central Africa Protectorate. With it he was able to 
bring out from India a splendid body of Sikhs to subdue 
rebel chiefs, to make roads, and to open out access to the 
Chartered Company's territory through Nyasaland. 

But Mr. Rhodes's work was constantly threatened by 
dangers of all kinds — by difficulties that would have 
baffled or disheartened any other man. 

First of all came the first Matabele war : to accuse the 
543 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

Chartered Company of having brought it about through 
greed and with the object of securing Matabeleland is a 
downright perversion of the truth. I can bear witness to 
the fact that the Matabele were the aggressors, and that 
war was forced by them on the Company. 

Then came rinderpest and the rebelhon : all these diffi- 
culties were surmounted, and although they have in a way 
retarded the present development of the country, they have 
been the indirect cause of advancing it in the very near 
future. The Beira- Salisbury railway and the Mafeking- 
Bulawayo line would never have been pushed forward with 
such wonderful activity if the rinderpest had not caused 
the rebellion. The construction of the Mafeking-Bulawayo 
line beats, I think, all colonial records of railway construc- 
tion. As much as two and three-quarter miles of line has 
been laid in a single day, and work had to be stopped at 
three p.m. as the supply of rails and sleepers had been 
exhausted, and a fresh supply was only expected in the 
evening. In January of this year the line was already laid 
up to Palapshwe, and ought to be completed to Bulawayo 
in a short time. 

The two-feet-gauge line from Beira towards Salisbury is 
already completed over a distance of more than 250 miles 
from the coast over the worst part of the road to Salisbury, 
and entirely covers the belt of Tsetse fly, that has caused 
so much trouble, the loss of so many animals, and resulted 
in such heavy rates of freight. 

But Mr. Rhodes's undertakings do not stop there. The 
telegraph line from the Cape to Cairo, that has been con- 
sidered by many as the dream of a visionary, is in a fair 
way of being completed ere long. Major Forbes, who 
came to see Mr. Rhodes in November last, received orders 
to push forward the construction of the line with all speed. 
The line completed to Blantyre in a rough way is now 
being laid permanently, and forty miles only remain to 
complete it as far as Lake Nyasa. Before two years have 
elapsed Uganda will be in telegraphic communication with 
544 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

the Cape, and within that time the Mahdi will most likely 
have been crushed, and it will be possible to connect the 
line with the one already erected from Egypt southwards. 

Mr. Rhodes's example has given a general impulse to the 
development of Africa, and everywhere some new enter- 
prise is being daily set on foot. The Mozambique Company 
and a number of other companies have shown much activity 
in the Portuguese possessions of East Africa. The Ger- 
mans have tried to follow suit in German East Africa, 
but, with the exception of the coast, their operations in 
the interior are confined to a renewed activity in killing 
" niggers." Last, but not least, the Uganda railway is 
being pushed forward with great activity. The foundation 
of a serious trade with Uganda is being laid, and in ten 
years' time Africa will have been transformed altogether. 
What the other Powers require to keep pace with England 
is a second Rhodes, a great statesman with mighty con- 
ceptions, and the possessor of a fortune and a credit that 
enable him to carry them out. 

To call this the Rhodes Era is, therefore, only natural ; 
it has no precedent in the history of the world : never 
before has a Government been indebted to a private indi- 
vidual for the addition of 750,000 square miles to its 
territory, and never before has a new colony been developed 
so rapidly, and all this without the cost of a single farthing 
to the taxpayers. 

Let us now consider the resources and the administration 
of the various countries I have visited. 

The Cape Colony possesses legislative powers, and on the 
whole the Cape Parliament in its short career has done 
excellent work. One of the chief difificulties, however, is 
the strong racial feeling that exists throughout the land. 
The old Dutch settlers, whose families have been established 
in South Africa for four or five generations, or even longer, 
have kept their language, customs, and traditions. 

Many of them feel as bitterly what they consider the 
British yoke as their forefathers did when the country 
2 N 545 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

passed from the hands of Holland into those of England. 
Being entitled to the franchise, they form a very strong 
party in Parliament and throughout the country. Their 
leader is a shrewd and able man — Mr. Hofmeyer — who 
has been clever enough to keep always aloof from power, 
and has thus retained all his influence. This racial feeling 
was, however, much smoothed down by the tact and the 
ability of Mr. Rhodes so long as he held office, but although 
the Jameson raid gave Mr. Hofmeyer a splendid chance of 
fanning the dying embers, there still remains among the 
Dutch party a strong personal feeling in favour of Mr. 
Rhodes, whose past services have not been forgotten. 

I need not dwell upon the resources of the Cape Colony, 
as they are known to all, but I may say that this 
Colony has largely benefited by the opening out of the 
northern territories, and will still more benefit by it when 
the railways of Rhodesia have been completed. Mr. 
Rhodes's object is to work hand in hand with the South 
by uniformity of rates, taxes, etc. 

The hostility of the Transvaal, its custom tariffs, and its 
outrageous railway rates, have caused much discontent in 
the Colony, but the losses sustained thereby ought to be 
largely compensated for by the opening out of a brisk 
trade with Rhodesia. 

Of the Transvaal I can say little or nothing. I cannot 
enter into details of its present state, being bound by the 
promise made to my friend Mr. H. C. Cust, with whom I have 
lately revisited South Africa, not to write anything on our 
journey; but this much I can say from my previous and pre- 
sent knowledge of the Boers : there is no country in the world 
where foreigners are trodden down in such a way, where 
officials are more corrupt, and where honest industry is so 
heavily handicapped by legislation ; where ignorance, con- 
ceit, and impudence are so common among the lower and 
even the upper classes, a distinction hard to make, as rich 
and poor are equally ignorant, equally dirty, and live in the 
same semi-savage way. During my journey across Africa 
546 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

I have never received a single kindness from a Boer, but 
many have been the occasions when I have been swindled 
and insulted by them. The grievances of the Uitlanders 
are only too real — the bad faith of the Government cannot 
be denied. If the adversaries of Mr. Rhodes and Mr. 
Beit knew the exact state of affairs, they would acknow- 
ledge that in the part they, and other capitalists, took in 
the intended revolution they were actuated by the noblest 
motives ; for it is not on them or on their properties that 
the burden of the present legislation falls, but on the 
owners of the numerous small mines that can, under the 
present circumstances, only be worked at a loss, while 
under the legislation in force in the Cape Colony or 
Rhodesia they could pay between five and six per cent. 
Neither must we forget that it was in answer to President 
Kruger's appeal that the Uitlanders came into the country : 
it is to the money invested by the so much decried 
capitalists that the Transvaal owes its present prosperity. 
Millions of English money were invested in the mines 
before anyone knew whether they would pay or not. We 
hear a good deal of a few capitalists who have made 
millions in the Transvaal, but we are apt to forget the 
thousands of people who have lost millions through the 
iniquitous laws of the most iniquitous of Governments. 
And even now, with all its prosperity, the Transvaal 
Government would be unable to develop the country 
without the help of the Uitlanders. On the whole, the 
South African Republic can be compared to a patient 
suffering from cancer : its cancer consists of its Govern- 
ment ; but although it may be operated upon it will 
reappear, and its existence is doomed without remedy. 
So far as Bechuanaland is concerned, I think that it can 
be far better administered from the Cape than from the 
Colonial Office. It would be a mistake to think that a 
similar measure could be extended to the whole Protecto- 
rate ; the northern part of the country is not ripe for 
self-government. On the other hand, it is much to be 
547 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

deplored that circumstances compelled the Secretary of 
State for the Colonies to withdraw the administration 
from the Chartered Company, as no region in the interior 
can be administered from Downing Street, and no Colonial 
Secretary will dare to ask for an amount of money equal 
to that which would have been spent by the Chartered 
Company to develop it. 

Bechuanaland proper and the Protectorate are in- 
valuable as a route to the north, and had not Mr. 
Rhodes's efforts succeeded in recovering the country from 
the grasp of the Boers, it is most likely that Rhodesia 
would not be under the British flag at present. As a 
colony, Bechuanaland did not strike me as likely to be 
developed for many years to come, until, in fact, all the 
available fertile grounds of Matabeleland and Mashona- 
land have been taken up. Competent experts have 
assured me that in Bechuanaland ideal stretches of 
country for ranching can be found, far superior to 
any of the American ranches ; but the country struck 
me as too dry — too badly watered — to become of any 
practical use, unless much money was spent to cope with 
the droughts that occur every two or three years. 
Especially now, when the railway is going to place 
Matabeleland and Mashonaland at the very door of the 
Cape Colony, farmers will not settle in a region where 
they will have to spend much money and wait for many 
years before they can expect to get a profitable return 
for their work and expenditure, especially when they can 
settle in a country where they will find already provided 
by nature whatever they could only get by hard and 
expensive work in Bechuanaland. 

The Protectorate is nominally under the rule of native 
chiefs, prominent among them being Khama. Most of 
these chiefs are ignorant ; and all of them, relying upon 
the enormous profits they realize by the sale of their 
cattle and produce to the white men passing through their 
country, have made no effort to increase their fields, as 
548 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

their people hate work above everything. The result has 
been that instead of laying aside, as they formerly did, 
a considerable reserve in case of accident, they have sold 
all their available grain, and now that rinderpest and a bad 
crop have come among them, they are reduced to semi- 
starvation. I pity them but little, and I have seen with 
deep regret the money that is wasted in London for the 
purpose of relieving them. Those who, impelled by their 
kindness of heart, have headed and organized this move- 
ment-are, indeed, very ignorant of the workings of the 
native mind. When I first heard of this movement I 
predicted that almost every chief would refuse to accept 
the proffered relief, and that those who would accept 
it would make use of it to extort money from the white 
men of South Africa by selling them, at famine prices, 
the grain that would be supplied to them by the white 
men of England. This is exactly what has taken place. 
Khama and other chiefs declined to receive the grain 
offered to them, saying that their people were not hungry. 
Sechele replied that he was not such a fool as to accept 
such presents, as, later on, the white men would come and 
ask for something on the grounds that they had helped 
him. As to the individual native, if you offer him some 
food when he is hungry, unless he is one of your own 
men who works for you, he will refuse it, considering your 
offer with absolute mistrust, and this under the impression 
that you want to bewitch him. The conception of pity 
does not come within the range of the native mind, and 
he cannot understand that strangers should wish to help 
people they do not know. The mere fact of your having 
offered him food without his having asked for it will make 
the native go to his witch-doctor to get some " medicine " 
to preserve him from your machinations. 

Besides, if the people are hungry, why do they not 

go to seek work on the Bulawayo or Beira railway lines — 

the contractors are short of labour, and would welcome 

them and give them good wages ; but then, as I have 

549 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

already said, the Bechuana do not care to work, but much 
prefer the alternative of going with an empty stomach. I 
have already said what I thought of Khama as a chief; 
I will now speak of his country. It looks enormous on 
the map, but really consists only of the huge village of 
Mangwato or Palapshwe, as the white men call it. His 
rule extends over the fifteen thousand or so of people 
huddled up in his village, and over the wild beasts of the 
Kalahari desert — a portion of South Africa hardly likely 
to become of any use until South Africa has reached the 
present stage of development in the United States. 

The Barotse is practically unknown with the exception 
of the immediate neighbourhood of the Zambezi : this is a 
most unhealthy region, but I have been assured by the 
many natives I saw coming from the interior that within 
fifty to sixty miles of the Zambezi the country is a 
splendid one, consisting of high plateaux, well watered, 
most fertile, and covered with thriving cattle. Iron is 
abundant in the Matotela country east of Lialui, and the 
natives there are great iron workers. The drawback is the 
great distance from both coasts and the difficulty of access. 
Evidently this difficulty will be solved in time when the 
railway will have penetrated to the north of Bulawayo. 
From a sporting point of view Bechuanaland and the 
Kalahari have long ceased to be good hunting grounds : 
in fact, the whole region south of the Zambezi (the much 
overrated Pungwe included) will disappoint sportsmen 
whose object is to come to Africa on a shooting tour. 
Travelling there is most expensive, most uncomfortable, 
and one half of the game shot cannot be brought into 
camp through the scarcity of boys. In the whole of 
South Africa a bag of thirty heads in as many days is 
considered a grand one, while in the Masai country you 
can shoot the same number of heads in a week. 

There is no doubt in my own mind that of all the 
countries I traversed Matabeleland is the most valuable. 
As to its mineral wealth I cannot speak from my own 
550 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

experience, for at the time I was in the country 
Lo Bengula took good care that no mines should be 
exploited. But for agricultural and st6ck-raising purposes 
this certainly was the best part of Africa I saw. Its 
advantage over Mashonaland was that cattle had been 
kept in the country for long periods in large numbers, 
and they had fed down the long grass until it was 
perfectly sweet and wholesome. I have no doubt that 
this difficulty will be overcome in time in Mashonaland 
also, though of course the ravages of the rinderpest have 
greatly delayed the process. As for the progress that 
had been made in Mashonaland I have already spoken 
of it at length, and need only add here that the results 
of brief occupation of the country in the face of pro- 
digious difficulties was the finest piece of colonization I 
ever saw or heard of 

Passing northwards, we come to the Portuguese sphere 
on the Zambezi. In this territory the crushing dis- 
advantage to which Rhodesia is as yet subject — its 
prodigious distance from any civilized base — does not 
exist. The Zambezi provides fairly quick, cheap, and 
easy means of transport. The country is exceedingly 
rich. Nevertheless the Portuguese territories have made 
hardly any progress at all of recent years, nor is the 
reason difficult to state. Rich as is the soil, the climate 
is deadly to Europeans, and there are few, if any, areas of 
high ground which might afford healthy sites for white 
settlements such as I noticed in speaking of Nyasaland. 
Moreover, the character of the Portuguese administration, 
as will haye been readily imagined from the stories I have 
told about it in its place, is not favourable for the develop- 
ment of industry or the attraction of capital. The 
Portuguese, in brief, had at the time of my journey been 
in Africa almost as many centuries as other colonizing 
Powers had been years, and had yet made far less 
progress than any of them. This appears at sight a 
most severe reflection upon that nation, but it is not 
551 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

really so. The truth is that the fact of their long 
occupation is just what has proved their sorest dis- 
advantage. The British and Germans have been able to 
start fair with a clear sheet, and establish administrations 
according to the latest and most improved models. The 
Portuguese are handicapped by three hundred years of 
mediaevalism, and it is a very difficult matter to clear away 
the old before establishing the new. For instance, the 
" prazzo " system, which I have described in a previous 
chapter, is as fatal to the development of the country 
as it well could be. Yet we must remember that the 
system has been in force for the best part of three 
centuries, and is not to be cleared away in a day. While 
making every allowance for this, it must be owned that 
there are faults and mistakes in the Portuguese adminis- 
tration which can be removed with no insuperable 
difficulty — the convict system, for example, and the 
conflict between the military and the naval powers. 
Whether the Portuguese are likely now or in the 
immediate future to set to work seriously to remedy this 
state of affairs is another matter, and one in which I 
should not care to speak with too much confidence. 

Continuing our northward survey, we come to another 
valuable British territory in Nyasaland. I have little to 
add to what I have already said about this promising 
country, which serves as admirably for a model of tropical 
colonization as do the Chartered Company's territories of 
European settlement. The pre-eminent advantage enjoyed 
by this territory is, of course, the excellent water-way 
provided by the rivers and the lake. North of the 
Nyasaland Protectorate, between it and Lake Tanganika, 
we find a high plateau where an infinite number of 
rivers take their source to join either the Zambezi 
basin or that of the Congo, This country is fertile 
enough, and affords excellent pasturage. Iron here is 
abundant and of good quality. But this territory will 
be of little value from any point of view until means are 
552 



THE PROBLEM OF AERICA 

found of draining the many marshes which destroy 
health, cripple agriculture, and hopelessly retard commu- 
nication. The southern end of Lake Tanganika, I may 
mention, appears to me to have a great future as a 
commercial centre. The principal mart which gathers 
up the produce of the interior northward is Ujiji, 
whence boats can reach the station of Kituta under a 
fortnight, while it takes four months to make the overland 
journey to Zanzibar. The Arabs already send large 
quantities of ivory by this route. What is wanted to 
develop this line of trade is a competitor for the African 
Lakes Company, which at present enjoys an almost 
exclusive monopoly of the trade of these regions, and 
imposes almost prohibitive rates. 

Passing to the German sphere of influence, I cannot, 
say that I think highly of its value. I ani speaking of 
course only of those parts which I visited, and leaving 
the coast districts out of consideration. Their frontier, 
as a glance at the map will show, extends southward 
to the river Rovuma, takes in the north-east shore 
of Lake Nyasa, thence runs north to the south-east of 
Lake Tanganika, and following the eastern coast of this 
lake to its further extremity, it then takes an oblique 
direction as far as the first parallel of south latitude, where 
we come upon British territory again. A considerable 
part of this territory was little known when I was in the 
country, and except in the coast lands the Germans had 
nowhere established their influence. Since then much 
has been done, and in particular the country has been 
explored, and in great part surveyed. But even to-day 
the interior is very little developed. Major von Wissmann, 
despatched by the Anti-Slavery Society, founded a station 
at the north-east extremity of Lake Nyasa, in the Bay of 
Parumbira. I have not been able to discover the reason 
for the existence of this station. The lofty Livingstone 
Mountains rise on all sides of it to a height of over 6000 
feet. No slave caravan would ever think of touching 
553 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

this point, as slaves are generally disembarked at Amelia 
Bay, further south. Northward from this the Germans 
were at war with the Wahehe, a powerful race of Zulu 
origin, with the formidable military organization of their 
race. They had attempted to subdue this tribe many 
times without success. Further west the frontier passes 
south of Lake Rikwa, an arid and inhospitable region 
without the least future. The east coast of Lake Tan- 
ganika is similarly arid, mountainous, and hardly 
inhabited. Ujiji is the most important Arab centre in 
this part of Africa ; but when I was there the inhabitants 
were very ill-disposed towards the Germans, and fully 
decided to evacuate the place should the Germans 
attempt to establish themselves there. Now as Ujiji is 
simply and solely a market, the place will lose its whole 
value from the moment the Arabs leave it. 

From Ujiji to the first degree of latitude the country 
is occupied by the Wahha and the Waruanda. These 
tribes are exceedingly hostile to Europeans, and are not 
likely to submit to them without a long and obstinate 
struggle. Moreover, the Wahha country is absolutely 
miserable from the colonial point of view, and, so far 
as I know, is quite destitute of mineral resources. Nearly 
300 miles east of Ujiji is Tabora — another important 
Arab centre, where the Germans have established a 
station. Now Tabora, like Ujiji, owes its importance 
to the ivory trade, which passes from the latter place 
on its way to the coast. From the day when the 
Arabs cease to send their ivory by this route and 
dispose of it in British territory, south of Lake 
Tanganika, there will remain to Tabora little but the 
ruins of a few Arab houses in the middle of a dry and 
barren plain. Northward from Tabora, up to Lake 
Victoria Nyanza — another distance of nearly 200 miles 
— is found a great sandy plateau without water, and 
absolutely dry, where the sparse inhabitants have great 
trouble to grow the few grains of millet on which they 
554 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

live. The whole of the Victoria Nyanza below the 
first degree of south latitude belongs to the Germans, 
who have established three stations upon it — Muanza, 
in the territory of Usikuma, south of the lake, and 
Bukoba, west of it, near the river Kagera, are Government 
stations ; the third, on the peninsula of Ukerewe, was 
founded by the Anti-Slavery Society. In a belt of three 
or four miles from Muanza you do not meet a single 
native. The Germans have burnt all the villages, as I 
have already recounted. For the rest the country is 
waterless, and of little value. The whole shores of the 
lake from Muanza to Bukoba, with its numerous islands, 
are almost bare of vegetation, with the exception of 
sparse and poor grass. The interior of the country 
consists of a bushy plateau, intersected by deep valleys, 
at the bottoms of which are banana plantations. Cattle 
were abundant at one time, but have been decimated by 
the plague. 

It is true that coffee grows in a wild state in the 
German sphere. But it will be always difficult to 
conduct this business at a profit, because of the distance 
from the coast. Even the railway which is now being 
built will hardly improve matters, as traffic rates must 
be high unless the line is to be run at a ruinous loss. 
At any rate, it will always be difficult for the country 
to compete with Nyasaland, which is nearer the coast, 
and where transport by water is largely available. 

From this brief retrospect it will be seen that other 
nations have little cause to envy the Germans their Central 
African territory. If they continue to occupy it, it must 
for a long time remain a source of great expense, with 
the slightest possible prospect of proving eventually 
remunerative. As for the manner in which the Germans 
treat the natives, I have already said enough about it 
in the chapters dealing with my journey through the 
country. The fact that a succession of high colonial 
officials have been condemned for maltreatment of the 
555 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

natives appears to confirm the impression of their 
methods which I got on the spot. Quite apart from 
the morality of these proceedings, they are quite fatal 
to any idea of profitable exploitation of the country. 
The Germans will make no progress without the aid 
of native labour. A certain amount of forced work 
they have been able to command, but to burn the 
villages and continually unsettle and depopulate the 
country is the worst possible way to procure labour of 
the quality or in the quantity which is needed to secure 
any useful result. 

Passing north along the western shore of the Victoria' 
Nyanza, we cross the river Kagera and find ourselves 
in Buddu, one of the provinces of Uganda. Here the 
country undergoes a sudden and complete change. 
Instead of cliffs covered with scrub the shore is low, 
and clothed in the most luxuriant vegetation. This 
immense province is one of the richest in Uganda. 

Uganda itself has been represented by the missionaries 
and by a few others as a kind of earthly paradise, 
inhabited by saints and martyrs. What the future of 
the country will be I cannot even surmise. It consists of 
a series of ranges of grassy hills, at the foot of which stand 
stagnant rivers, covered with forests of papyrus. Bananas 
are the staple food of the country, cut green and then 
cooked. In Buddu coffee grows wild, and I daresay that 
the country might be suitable for plantations of sugar-cane, 
rice, and coffee ; but the great drawback will always be 
the difficulty of finding labour. The people of Uganda 
are the laziest natives I ever came across. They are a weak 
race/ unsuited to hard work, and accustomed from time 
immemorial to let the women cultivate their bananas — an 
easy task. The men, having nothing to do, have always 
spent their time in conspiracies, and civil war is ever wel- 
come to them. The recent struggle between Protestants 
and Catholics, a mere denomination of political factions, is 
fresh in the memory of all, and Captain Lugard, who has 
556 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

been attacked from all quarters for the part he took in it, 
deserves the gratitude of all his countrymen, as his deter- 
mination saved the country from falling into German 
hands. After this war the Protestants and Catholics 
were given separate provinces — an excellent arrangement 
for the time being, but one that cannot last, and that will 
have to come to an end as soon as the British administra- 
tion is strong enough to quell any disturbance. The 
missionaries, although they have done much good, have 
also done much harm to the country, dividing it into two 
powerful and hostile factions. The French fathers have 
always considered the British officials as interlopers, and, 
instead of smoothing down the restlessness of their 
adherents, have only kindled the latent fire that was 
smouldering among them. 

Unyoro, from all points of view, is a far finer country — 
richer, flatter, more fertile, and inhabited by a more manly 
race. It is from Unyoro that all the iron implements 
used in Uganda chiefly come. 

Usoga, on the other hand, combines the advantages 
of Uganda with those of Unyoro, and, besides, contains 
forests that will prove a source of great wealth when the 
railway has been opened from Mombasa to Lake Victoria 
Nyanza ; and I have no doubt that when the work of 
colonization begins, it is Usoga that will attract the 
attention of all the new comers. 

One of the most remarkable features of the administra- 
tion of Uganda is the happy choice the Foreign Office 
has made in selecting the officers that have been sent to 
that region. To say nothing of Captain Lugard, who was 
sent by the Imperial British East Africa Company, we 
find such men as Sir Gerald Portal, Major Owen, Captain 
Macdonald, Colonel Sir Henry Colvile, and Mr. Barclay, 
It would take too long to quote all those who have helped 
them, but one whose name has never caused much 
attention at home may be mentioned on account of the 
great services he has rendered during many years. He was 
557 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

one of the first officials who came into the country in 
the Company's time, and his ability and activity have 
done much towards the development of the Protectorate. 
I am speaking of Mr. Grant ; he was with Major Owen 
during most of the arduous times he had to go through, 
and poor Roddy could say nothing too good of him. I 
have myself seen him at work when he was in charge 
of Usoga, and I can fully endorse all that Owen said 
of him. 

Kavirondo, through its relative proximity to Uganda, 
ought to form part of the Uganda Protectorate, a better 
name for which would be British Equatorial Africa 
Protectorate, as Uganda proper is but a small portion 
of the various territories under British rule. The great 
stretch of uninhabited country, extending from Kikuyu 
to Kavirondo, puts its administration from Kikuyu out 
of the question. 

Ethnographically, the race inhabiting Kavirondo belongs 
to the same category as the inhabitants of the Upper Nile, 
and its language forms a kind of connecting link between 
the Bantu and the Dinka dialects. The features of the 
natives of Kavirondo offer a striking contrast to those of 
the Bantu tribes : they are taller, stronger, much darker, 
and chiefly remarkable for the great size of their hands and 
feet. Men and women go about absolutely naked, their 
ornaments consisting almost exclusively of brass and iron 
wire of great size and weight. Iron is worked on a large 
scale in their country, and they supply their neighbours 
with spades, hoes, and spear heads. The people of Uganda, 
however, as already stated, get these articles from Unyoro. 
In Kavirondo the men share with the women the labour of 
the fields, and their country seems a most fertile one : it is 
yet very little known, and their ethnography has never 
been studied. I much regretted that time prevented my 
stopping for a few months among them. 

The Masai country is an immense region — still almost 
unknown — consisting of a series of large undulating 
558 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

plateaux, ranging in height from 8000 to 10,000 feet above 
the sea level. The whole country is covered with beautiful 
grass- lands, with here and there stretches of imposing 
forests, where trees many centuries old are to be found. 
The climate is perfect, admirably suited to European 
labour, water abundant everywhere, and the soil far more 
fertile than anything I have seen in the whole of my 
journey across Africa. I feel absolutely certain that within 
a few years' time, when the railway to Uganda is completed, 
the whole of this region will become populated by a 
large number of European colonists, who will be able to 
develop their farms without the help of natives. The 
Masai, so much dreaded for many years — without apparent 
reason — have altogether ceased to exist as a nation, and are 
now divided into a number of small tribes. Their collapse 
began with rinderpest, which broke down their former tra- 
ditions. Until it carried away their cattle, the elmoran or 
warriors never ate anything but beef; they would have 
despised eating a goat or the flesh of game. But with the 
loss of their cattle came hunger. These nomadic tribes, 
relying absolutely on their animals for food, had little or 
no grain to supply their wants, and starvation began to 
make itself felt among them. They ceased to raid their 
neighbours — their raids having but one object, cattle, as the 
Masai seldom carried away slaves— and they were soon 
reduced to the most cruel situation. It was then that 
their great witch-doctor, Battiani, died; he had been to 
the Masai what Chaka had been to the Zulu, having 
gathered into one great nation and one great military 
power the hitherto disseminated tribes. After his death 
his great work fell to pieces, and instead of remaining 
one big nation the Masai relapsed into a series of small 
tribes ; this enabled the Germans to drive them away 
from Kilima Njaro. Many of them came to ask for 
British protection, and now they have ceased to become 
formidable. But they are still a proud, warlike race, and 
could be used with great advantage as soldiers — out of 
their own province. 

559 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

The Wakikuyu, who have for many years been con- 
sidered as belonging to the Masai race, have little or 
no connection with it. Physically they are absolutely 
different ; their language also differs, and their mode of 
life has nothing in common with the Masai. They are 
essentially a mountain tribe, coming from the slopes 
of Mount Kenia ; they can be divided into two classes, 
the pastoral and the agricultural. The latter have 
gradually been driven away by the former, and have made 
their way towards the south-west. Their cultivation is 
chiefly carried out in forest clearings, where the soil is 
without equal for fertility. The climate of the region they 
inhabit is also admirably suited to European labour, the 
temperature never exceeding 86°, and often falling as low 
as 45°. As a race they are treacherous ; they never keep 
their word, and it is still dangerous to venture more than 
a mile from the Government station without an escort of 
at least twenty-five armed men. A great improvement 
has, however, taken place in the country through the 
energy and proper handling of the natives by Mr. Hall, 
who was for a long time in charge of the station of Kikuyu. 
He has managed to bring together the various chiefs, who 
have pledged themselves to be jointly responsible for the 
misdeeds of any individual one of them, the English officer 
promising in return to protect them from any attack from 
the Masai or from their pastoral kindred. With the 
advent of the railway a complete transformation may be 
looked upon as a mere matter of months. An expedition 
will have to be led against the northern tribes dwelling 
south of Mount Kenia, but this ought to thoroughly subdue 
the country, which is one of great value. So far, it may be 
added, nothing whatever is known of the immense region 
between the proposed railway line and the Juba river — 
with the exception of the immediate neighbourhood of the 
Tana river — and anyone wishing to make a new and useful 
journey ought to turn his attention towards the exploring 
of this part of Africa. It must also be noted that neither 
560 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

Masai nor Wakikuyu have ever made use of guns, or even 
shown eagerness to be possessed of them. 

I have dwelt at great length on the curious customs 
and patriarchal mode of government of the Wakamba, 
and I have pointed out how useful these people might 
become if properly handled. What I wrote three years 
ago on the subject has turned out perfectly correct. 
Under the able administration of Mr. Ainsworth the 
Wakamba have proved themselves daily more useful : 
they make excellent mail carriers, first-class and readily- 
trained soldiers, and good porters and labourers. Their 
country covers an enormous area, with a population 
denser than that of most African regions, but still with 
ample room for thousands of white men. They are a 
quiet, peaceful, and easily-handled race susceptible of much 
improvement. Although the climate is warmer than that 
of the Masai country, it is a mild one without excessive 
heat: it is well watered, and wheat, Indian corn, sugar-cane, 
and coffee ought to give good results there. Tobacco 
might also be most successfully grown, but the native 
plants will never pay : what is wanted are imported plants, 
properly cultivated, under the supervision of a competent 
man. The future welfare of Africa is a question in which 
I take much interest : I have at heart its development, 
and I shall not rest satisfied until I have seen the question 
of the cultivation of tobacco taken in hand. Gold in my 
eyes is a secondary matter : gold mines may enrich many 
during the two or three next generations, but their supply 
is bound to get exhausted sooner or later ; the area 
where they are to be found is a small one compared with 
the total amount of the British possessions from the 
Cape to the basin of the Nile, and when these have 
supplied a home to the hundreds of thousands of English- 
men who are bound to come and settle there, the gold 
industry will only supply work to a comparatively small 
number of the new inhabitants. Agriculture is therefore 
the main question to be considered, and, as I have said 
20 561 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

over and over again, there is no reason why British Africa 
should not take the place of Havana, Manilla, and 
Sumatra as a tobacco -producing country ; it must not 
be forgotten that the demand for tobacco increases daily, 
and it is only natural to surmise that a Continent like 
Africa, where tobacco is universally grown and used by 
the natives, offers every chance of success if plants of 
superior quality are cultivated there. Failure may follow 
the first experiments : the plants that are first imported 
may lose their quality in some regions or under some 
circumstances ; but if one considers the enormous area, 
the diversity of climate, and the variety of soils, upon 
which experiments can be carried out, it is impossible to 
doubt that success will ultimately come. 

From the territory of the Wakamba south-east to the 
coast the country is poor, and the sooner the railway 
shortens the transit through this belt the better for the 
more valuable territories inland. 

To recapitulate, I will say that the chief impression I 
gathered from my long journey is that Great Britain 
possesses the very best portion of Africa from the Cape 
to the Nile, that she alone has justified her right to be 
in the country by developing every spot where the Union 
Jack has a right to fly, and she alone understands how 
to colonize ; and if one considers the gigantic work that 
has been carried out under the aegis of her flag within the 
last ten years in the heart of Africa, comparing it with 
the work accomplished by the Portuguese and the Germans, 
it will be found that England has, within these ten years, 
accomplished ten times as much as the Germans are 
ever likely to do within the next fifty years, although 
the German East African Colony has already cost to 
the German taxpayer* more than the whole of the 
British possessions North and South of the Great African 
Continent have cost to the British Government. 

* The yearly expenditure comes to over ^300,000 ; so that about three 
m illions have been already spent. 

562 



THE PROBLEM OF AFRICA 

But what impressed me most was the genius, the in- 
domitable energy and the greatness of the conceptions of 
Mr. Cecil Rhodes, Mr. H. M. Stanley, and other English- 
men, who have left wherever they have been the imprint 
of their great minds, and who have never hesitated to 
support their schemes with money and with their lives, 
men, in fact, of whom every Englishman ought to be 
proud and whose names will live for ever in the history 
of Africa and of the world. 



563 



Appendix I. 
THE PLAGUES OF AFRICA 

THE PRESENT AND THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE 

RINDERPEST, of which so much has lately been said, did 
not spring up suddenly in the various parts of Africa, but 
has been steadily making its way from North to South, carrying 
ruin and desolation throughout the land. It is a remarkable fact 
that until it reached Matabeleland no one suspected the nature 
of the disease. I was the first to call attention to it in a letter 
I addressed to the Field in 1893. As I have already said, I 
found the first traces of the disease in the Wakondi country, 
north of Lake Nyasa. This was in April, 1893. This district 
was celebrated in former times for the abundance of its cattle; 
and when Sir Harry Johnston visited it in 1889, he found so 
much milk there that he declared that he could have taken a 
bath every day in the milk brought to him. In 1893, when I 
was there, it was almost impossible to get a glass of milk. It 
was the previous year, in 1892, that the Chinpuinba, as the 
rinderpest is locally known, appeared in the place. It came from 
the West, having travelled over the Tanganika-Nyasa plateau. 
There it swept away all the cattle, killing also the buffalo, and 
destroying nearly all the game, zebras, wildebeests, and even 
elephants ; goats and fowls also died in great numbers. In one 
place, however, the cattle were saved : the French Fathers of 
Mambwe treated their animals with large doses of quinine, 
and none of those that were so treated died. I think that 
this is well worthy of notice. All along the eastern shore of 
Lake Tanganika the disease had passed, and not a single head 
of cattle was to be found. In the Wahha country, however, I 
found enormous herds of cattle — splendid animals standing from 
56s 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

1 6 to 17 hands high; and I heard that the Sotoka, as rinderpest 
is called in that part of Africa, had done little or no damage. 
This cattle is the only kind I found north of the Zambezi 
belonging to the species without a hump. They have been 
imported by the Watusi, a variety of the Wahima tribe, in- 
habiting the region west of Lake Victoria Nyanza. 

In Unyamwezi rinderpest had been most virulent, and had 
also attacked Usikuma, sparing however the Burru country 
between Unyamwezi and Kilima Njaro. But at the end of 1893 
it had entirely disappeared from Unyamwezi and Usikuma, where 
it had passed two years previously. 

Uganda had been also visited by the plague about the same 
time. During the year 1891 it swept away the whole of the 
cattle of the Masai, and destroyed every buffalo in that region. 
This plague played there a most important part in the politics of 
the country. In former times the Masai Elmoran (warriors) 
never touched any food but beef. Even when they were out on 
a raiding expedition, and found themselves short of food, they 
preferred to starve rather than eat game or meat that was not 
beef When their cattle had been destroyed by rinderpest, they 
had to eat porridge, and were glad to sell a donkey for a couple 
of pounds of meal. This seems to have degraded them in their 
own eyes, and to have broken their proud spirit. In 1894, 
however, no trace of the disease was found in Uganda or in the 
Masai country, and the natives were gradually recovering their 
cattle. I have not been able to trace the origin of the plague 
further north, but it seems to have altogether disappeared after 
a period of two years wherever it has passed. 

My own impression is that no precaution will be able to stop 
its invasion of the Cape Colony unless all traffic is stopped; 
even so, game will carry it about.^ That it affects donkeys I 
have had undoubted proof, having lost a donkey from it in 
Central Africa in 1893 ; and having compared my recollections 
with the description published in the Bechuanaland Government 
Gazette^ I find that the symptoms which my donkey showed 
were absolutely those of rinderpest. So far as I can see, 
rinderpest has travelled at the rate of ij miles per day, and the 
question is whether it is not a mistake to try and check its 
^ This was written in 1896, and has proved correct. 
566 



THE PLAGUES OF AFRICA 

progress. If it is bound to invade the Colony, is it worth 
spending enormous sums to postpone the evil? There is this 
to say in favour of the measures adopted — that if it can be 
kept off for a period of from a year and a half to two years, 
by which time it appears probable that it will have died out in 
Rhodesia, the latter province will be able to supply the South 
with meat. 

But there is another plague, quite as serious, that threatens 
South Africa — a plague that nothing will stop, and that will 
seriously affect the labour market — I am speaking of the jiggers. 
This is an insect of the flea family, indigenous to South America. 
It was brought to West Africa by a slave ship. The jigger, or 
Piilex penetrans, is a small flea that burrows in the flesh, chiefly 
of the feet, choosing in preference the neighbourhood of the 
toe-nails. The female penetrates under the skin with its head 
only sticking out ; this head is so small that it can only be 
detected with a magnifying-glass, and cannot be seen in the skin 
of a black man. At first it causes no pain, but after a couple of 
days it gives the same sensation as a small thorn. After five to 
six days the body of the insect reaches the size of a pea, and is 
full of eggs ; the pain is then very great, and when the insect has 
been extracted its place is marked by a deep ulcer, that usually 
gets badly inflamed, and often brings on blood-poisoning. The 
natives dig it out with a pointed piece of wood, tearing the skin 
all round to make a hole large enough to allow the body of the 
insect to come out without breaking the pocket of eggs. They 
imagine that if they break the pocket, the eggs will generate 
under their skin. They are right in a sense, as they possess no 
antiseptics; and I have myself seen a fellow out of whom two 
hundred jiggers were extracted ! But even when a hole has been 
made large enough to allow the insect to be removed, it is most 
painful to get it out, as it is fastened to the ulcer it has produced. 
The best way is to open the place where the insect is with a 
lancet, and then to syringe the wound well with a sublimate 
lotion. The body of the insect having been removed with a 
forceps, the wound must again be well syringed, and carbolic oil 
appUed to it. In order to avoid these pests getting to a large 
size, white men ought to have their feet carefully examined twice 
daily. When a jigger is discovered, it can be easily removed 
567 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

during the first two days with the point of a needle. In many 
cases, however, they cannot be discovered until they have reached 
a certain size, and then extraction often amounts to a regular 
operation. Often they penetrate under the edge of the nails, and 
I have seen some of them right under the middle of the nail ; this 
necessitated a most painful operation. Boots are of little avail, 
and only prevent you from getting large numbers of them. They 
jump like a flea, and get at your foot by the top of the boot. 
Besides, when they have invaded a country, they are found on the 
ground outside and inside every house. Although I had my feet 
examined twice daily, I have had as many as three extracted at one 
time, after they had reached a good size, as they had escaped the 
notice of my servants during three or four days. I had from two 
to four of them taken out almost daily. When Colonel Colvile 
started for the Unyoro Expedition, out of eight white men four 
of us were unable to wear a boot or walk, on account of ulcers 
brought on by the jiggers. Colonel Colvile had seven of them 
extracted the day he left Kampala ; and Dr. Moffat had to ride a 
donkey, his feet being tied up in bandages. 

But it is among the natives that they cause the most damage. 
Among the Soudanese troops in Uganda I have myself made the 
following observations. At Fort Raymond the garrison consisted 
of 1 60 askaris (soldiers) and 70 porters; out of this number of 
men 72 askaris and 30 porters were absolutely unfit for service 
through ulcers brought on by jiggers, and 30 more men were 
lame. At Fort Grant the proportion of invalids through jiggers 
was over 50 per cent. I was in charge of the medical department 
— having volunteered to help Major Owen during the war — and 
never in my life have 1 seen such awful ulcers. Some of the 
men had the bone of their big toe protruding fleshless for more 
than an inch, others had quite a square inch of the bone of the 
heel exposed. I remember, among others, a corporal whose 
foot was covered with an ulcer about five inches long by three 
inches broad. In some villages of Uduhu (south of Lake 
Victoria Nyanza) I found the people starving, as they were so 
rotten with ulcers from jiggers that they had been unable to 
work at their fields, and could not even go to cut the few bananas 
that had been growing. In many villages of Uganda things were 
almost as bad. 

568 



THE PLAGUES OF AFRICA 

When I crossed Africa I found the first trace of jiggers at 
Mambwe, half-way between Lake Nyasa and Lake Tanganika. 
From there I found them all over the shores of Lake Tanganika, 
in Uhha, in Unyamwezi, in Usikuma, all over the shores of Lake 
Victoria Nyanza, throughout Uganda and Usoga. The southern 
part of the Masai country alone was free from them. 

Sir Harry Johnston informed me last summer that the jiggers 
have come down to Blantyre, having therefore travelled about 
500 miles southward in two years' time. I calculate, accordingly, 
that they will reach Mashonaland in about two years' time, and 
with the railway communication they will be all over the Cape 
Colony in a year more. In fact, I feel absolutely certain that 
they will invade the Colony before the year 1900.^ 

Those only who have seen what damage the jiggers cause can 
realize what the prospect means for South Africa. The matter 
is most serious, and steps should be taken to try to ward off 
the danger. 

To give an idea of the prolific way in which they generate, 
I must explain that the moment the jigger is taken out of the 
flesh she begins to lay her eggs ; and I have counted, with a 
magnifying-glass, 150 eggs that came out of one jigger in less 
than 30 seconds, and she went on laying them for more than five 
minutes. Even if each jigger lays only 500 eggs — and this is 
far below the number — it must be remembered that these be- 
come insects in a few days, and it may be understood how the 
whole of Africa north of the Zambezi is now infested with them. 
Sandy soil is the most suitable to their development, and in all 
the sandy regions where I found them the place swarmed with 
them. The natives are chiefly responsible for their increase, 
as, instead of destroying them as they extract them from their 
skin, they merely throw them on the ground, where they soon 
generate. 

Animals are also attacked by them— dogs, monkeys, fowls, 
and others. I saw in Muanza, south of Lake Victoria Nyanza, a 
tame eagle that had lost one of his legs through jiggers. In 
order to give an idea of the way in which these insects attack 
men, I may quote the example of a dwarf (one of those discovered 
by Mr. Stanley) who was in the service of Major Owen. The little 
^ They had already made their appearance at Beira in 1896. 
569 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 

fellow was very dirty, and while Major Owen went to Unyoro he 
was left for a month at Fort Raymond. When we returned there 
we found that he could not walk, and, having examined him, I 
discovered that he was full of jiggers. I got a Soudanese to 
take them out, and the first day he got two hundred and eighty 
out of the boy's body. His feet, his toes, knees, hands, fingers, 
elbows, shoulders, and back were full of them, and when he was 
brought to me after the operation he was a mass of blood, and 
it took me over an hour to bandage him. 

As I have explained, the natives dig the jiggers out with a 
pointed bit of wood, breaking the skin all round the body of the 
insect. The result is that the skin gets hardened and mortified, 
and when fresh jiggers get in the same spot they cannot be 
discovered till they have grown quite large, and often they are so 
deep in the flesh, having crept in by one of the crevices left in 
the mortified skin, that a hole half-an-inch deep has to be made 
before they can be got at. The result is usually a deep ulcer, 
dirt gets in, and the native medicines they apply to it, consisting 
of all sorts of filth, bring on gangrene, causing death or at least 
the loss of a limb. In many instances I have had to perform 
amputations of toes in order to save a man from the effects of 
gangrene, and in all such cases I found iodoform the most effective 
antiseptic to prevent ulceration after the jigger had been extracted. 
In fact, the natives soon learned its use ; and when I arrived in 
Karagwe, a native chief, having heard that a white man had 
landed, came from a long distance to ask me for yellow medicine. 
A brother of his, he said, had some of the yellow dawa (medicine) 
given to him by a German officer, and if I would give him some 
he would give me anything I liked. I gave him a little iodoform, 
and in the evening his katikiro (prime minister) came also to beg 
for some of it. I had obtained canoes from the chief to take me 
to Uganda, and being short of iodoform I did not care to spare 
any more; so I made a mixture of iodoform and sulphate of 
zinc. The katikiro, however, soon returned, and complained that 
his medicine was not as yellow as the one I had given to the 
chief. I replied that he could not expect the same medicine as 
a big chief, and he quite understood the distinction. 

To conclude, I think that I have done my duty in pointing out 
the serious and new danger that threatens South Africa. I feel 
S70 



THE PLAGUES OF AFRICA 

sorry to appear as a prophet of evil, but perhaps my warning 
may enable the Government to take steps to check the impending 
danger. I cannot think of any measure that may stop the 
invasion ; but I should advise the responsible authorities to have 
the subject thoroughly studied, so that when this new plague 
makes its appearance it may not take the people unawares, and 
that proper remedies may be known beforehand, and precau- 
tions recommended to avoid the spreading of the pest. From 
Central America and the West Indies, whence the jigger comes, 
considerable information can be obtained on the subject, and 
measures should be taken to obtain it without delay. My 
experience makes me look upon the jigger as the greatest curse 
that has ever afflicted Africa, and I hope that my warning will 
be taken up and turned to practical account. 



571 



Appendix II. 

A VOCABULARY OF SIMPLE WORDS IN SOME 
EAST AFRICAN LANGUAGES 

It may be thought presumptuous in me, who can make no 
claim to be a philological scholar, to add to my story the 
following brief vocabulary of some of the principal native 
languages I met with. It may be that I have made mistakes. 
The difificulty of picking up a language about which you know 
nothing needs no explanation from me ; and it is, of course, 
quite possible to make oneself understood by the natives without 
having any real grasp of the idiom and structure of their 
language. I am also of course aware that there are very many 
white men far better acquainted with each of the tongues of 
which I here append specimens than I can claim to be. 
Nevertheless, though it is perhaps dangerous to venture on 
these vocabularies, I do it because it is also possible that they 
may be of some small use to somebody. Our knowledge of 
these languages is after all not so long established or complete 
but that any contribution may happen to be useful in some 
particulars, even though it provoke a smile from the expert in 
others. At any rate, now that the countries whence I gleaned 
the words that follow are very much more traversed, whether 
for business or pleasure, by white men than they were even 
three years ago, it is possible that they may be of use in the 
same way as the travellers' phrase books, which are issued to 
supply the rudiments of conversation .in other parts of the 
world. It is also possible, I promise myself, that the kinships 
and differences revealed by this list of words between the 
dialects of various tribes may be of some slight interest to the 
amateur of language, who does not feel equal to attacking 
systematically the philology of Eastern Africa. 
573 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 



English. 


Kiswahili. 


Kinyamwesi. 


Luganda. 


All ... 


Woti 


Ose (Itange ose = 
Call all) 




Arrow 


Chaari . 


Tsonga 


Kirungu Katale 


At . . . 


Ni added . 


H-a. 




Axe . . . 


Choka 


Mbata 


Mbazi . 


Bad . . . 


Baya 


Be . . . 




Basin 


Bakuli 


Lieso. 




Basket . 


Tundo 


Chero . 




Bird 


Ndege . 


Noni . 


Noni . 


Black . 


Neaose . 


api. . . . 




Blue . 


do. . . 


do. . 




Bracelet (brass) . 


. 


Kumanga 




Brother 


Ndugo 


Ndugo. 


Nganda (Baganda, 
plural) 


Buffalo . 


Nyati 


Mbogo 


Mbogo . 


Careless 


Zembe 


adv. Uyaga. 




Close by 


Karibo 






Cloth . 


Nguo 


Muenda 


Ngoye Lubugo Bark- 
cloth. 


Cooking pot 


Tshungo . 


Nungo . 


Mtamu . 


Cold . 


Baridi 


Mbeho 


Mpeo . 


Cotton . 


Pamba 


Lua . . . 


Pamba . 


Country 


Inche 


Chala (Upanda 


Kialo Bialo (Group 






Chalo, the one 


of houses nsi — 






who ploughs 


Chalo.) 






through the land, 








i.e., that nothing 








stops ; my name 




Cross (bad- 


Kali . 


Daki (Wadaki = 




tempered) 




Germans). 




Cup 


Kikombe . 


Sonza (Grass cup, 
Kitusi wooden) 




Dead . 


Fu verb. Kufa . 


Fu . . 




Dirt 


Taka 


Makui . 


Bisasiro (sweepings) 


Down . 

Dress man . | 
,, woman • 


Chilli 






Mavasi Nguo . 


Masualo. 




(both plural, 


means clothes. ) 




Drum 








Ngoma 


Mganda (to beat) 


Ngoma 


Ngoma . 


Egg • ■ • 


Yai . 


Igi (magi, plural) . 


Nggi (magi, plural). 


Elephant . 


Tembo 


MpuH. Nzova 


Njovu 



574 



VOCABULARY 



Kavirondo. 


Masai. 


Kikamba. 


Kisenga. 


Navvangi 


Mpoke . 


Angonve. 




Awoyango 


Mba 


Mesie , 


Matete. 


Eayua . 


Endolo . 


Gesoka 


Katemo. 


Nomubi 


Soriki 


Movugu 


Mui. 


Usumuero. 








Amayoni (mayoni, 


Enguregni 


Ndei . 


Yoni. 


plural). 








Rategni 




Nziu. 




Muana . 


Enganeshe 


Ndu . 


Mlongo. 


Imboko . 


Olosogwan 


Mbo. 




Anambi 


Atana 


Kakuve. 




Inanga . 




Ingua . 


Tsalo. 


Tshinuni (small) 


Moti . 


Niungo 


Tshungo. 


Amuniere 


Inkijave . 


Bebo . 


Bepo. 


Iniungo . 






Tonje. 


Ichalo . 


Ankop 


Weoni . 


Chalo. 


Nomolulu 


Epe . . . 


Ngulu, 




Gisanda 


. 


Kikombe. 




Afuire . 


Olotwa . 


Kukwa -. 


Atchitanda. 


Lighwe (gh. Dutch) 


Kuluko 


Ndaka 


Madioo. 


Upwero 


Engop 


Vini. 




Ignoma . 


Ngingiri . 


Klvembe 


MBiribiri. 


Maboyo . 


Ngera 


Itumbi (Matumbi, 
lural). 


Mazai (plural). 


Amalua 


Neshi 


Mzo . 


Nyovu. 



575 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 



English . 


Kiswahili. 


Kinyamwesi. 


Luganda. 


Evening 


Manderibi . 


Mpindi 


Luagulu Kaungezi . 


Far away . 


Bali . 


. 




Fat . . . 


Maputa 


Maguta 


Musigofat. 
„ oil . 


Father . 


Baba 


Ise (wawa) . 


My father = Sebo . 


Fever . 


Homa 


Mubile ku sewa 
(Body to be hot) 


Msujia. 


Fire 


Moto 


Mulilo 


Moliro . 


Fowl . 


Kuku 


Kuku . 


Kuku. 


Giraffe . 


Tuiga 


Tuiga . 




Goat 


Mbusi 


Mbuli . . . 


Mbusi . 


Harvest 


Mavulo 


Wimbulo 


Makungula . 


He 


Uyu . 


Uwe . 


. 


Heat . 


Kitwa 


Mutui. 




Here . 


Hapa 


Enaka . 


Wano. . 


Hill 


Kilima 


Lugulu 


Lusosi (Kasosi, 
small). 


Hold . 


Kamata . 


Jamia . 


. 


Honey . 


Asali 


Wuki . 


Mbuki . 


Hot . . . 


Moto 


Lia sewe (it is hot), 
Kusewe(tobehot). 


Musana {subs.). 


Hut . . . 


Nyumba . 


Numba 


Nyumba Ndju ; Royal 
Lubiri, Chief Kisulu, 
on grave kiggia. 


I . . . . 


Mimi 


nene . 


Nze . . . 


111. 


Mgonja (sick 


Umhaili; WaUiala 






man) 


(are you ill ?) 




Inside . 


Indani 


Agati . 


Munda . 


Iron 


Chuma 


Kisinza 


Kiuma . 


Ivory . 


Pembe 


Mpuli . 


Sanga . 


Journey 


Sapari 


Mohinzo (to go on 
journey, Kuk- 
wawa). 




Keep . 


Weka 


Tula . 




Large . 


Kubua 


Hania . 




Leopard 


Tshui 


Sui . . . 




Lie . . . 


Wongo 


Ulamba 




Lion 


Simba 


. 




Little . 


Dogo 


Dogo . 


Uto. 


Man 


Mtu . 


Munhn 


Muntu (Banta, plu. ). 


Medicine 


Dawa 


Mganga 





576 



VOCABULARY 



Kavirondo. 


Masai. 


Kikainba. 


Kisenga. 




Kawalie , 


Utuko. 




Neale . 


Alakwa . 


Kuaza. 




Amafora . 


Ngurin 


Manta. 




Ra Baba 


Baba 


Asa . 


Baba. 


Molilo . 


Engema . 


Muaki . 

Ntuia, 


Molilo. 


Imbusi (plu., same) 


Ingine 


Mbui . 
Muaka. 


Mbusi. . 


Waghono o Korashi 


Le . . . 


Uya. 




Reghano (Dutch ^/^. ) 


Inne . 


Va. 




Chikulu (kigulu, 


Oldegno . 


Kilima 


Piri. 


plural). 








Mtira. 








Obushi . 


Enesho . 


Uki . 


Uji. 


Insu 


Angaji 


Nyumba. 




Nisie 


Nano 


Ninie. 


/' 


Nomuluare 


Em we 


Uwao. 




Inshu 


Atwa 


Vini. 




Chuma . 


Mbareik . 


Kilea . 


Chuma. 


Luika 


Lala . 


Mzo . 


Myanga. 


Abantu (men) 








awaji (many). 








Oghtirao 


Tokonara . 


Kwata. 




Nomokali 


Olgatani Kitok . 


Manene 


Kalamba, 


Ingue . 


Logwarumara . 


Ngo . 


Kaingo. 


Abubel . 




Ovungo. 




Atugui . 


Alnatung . 


Muniambo. 




Omundu (aivandu, 


Oltognagne 


Mundu (wandu, 


Muntu. 


plural). 




plural). 




Mamusala 


Altjani 


Muti . 


Mangwara. 



577 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 



English. 


Kiswahili. 


Kinyamwesi. 


Luganda. 


Milk . 


Masiwa . 


Mawele 


Mata (thick, Bbongo; 
fresh, Nusununu). 


Moon . 


Muezi 


Muezi . 


Muezi . 


Morning 


Asabue 


Ndiu . 


Inkia 


Mother . 


I\Iama 


Nina . 


My mother, Mange 
nina 


Much . 


Mingi 


Mingi . 


Ngi . . . 


Name . 


Jina . 


Sina . 








Night . 


Usiku . 


Ufuko . 


Kiro 






Noise . 


Kelele . 


Ibubu . 








On top . 


Dhiii 


Kuigulia 


. 






Ostrich . 


Mbuni 


Manungu 








Outside . 


Inji . 


Hanzi . 


Bueru 






Ox . . . 


Ngombe . 


Ngombe 


'Nte 






Poison . 


Suma 


Umala. 








Potatoes (native) . 


Viazi 


Kafu . 


I.umonde 




Present (gift) 


Sewaki 


Mdosi . 


(Mpera?) 


Pretty . 


Zuri . 


Soga (you are 
pretty = wewe 
umsoga. 


Mouengi 


Rain . 


Umvua 


Umvida 


Nkuba . 


River . 


Umto 


Mongo 




Road 


Njia . 


Nsila . 


Kubo . 


Sheep . 


Kondo 


'Nholo 


'Ngiga. . 


Sick (are you ?) 


Uwezi 


Waluala 




Sister . 


Ndugo 








muonamke 


Ndugo mkima 


Muanina (my sister) 


Sky . . . 


Mbingu 


Kunde 


Gulu (above) . 


Small . 
Snake . 


Dogo 


Do. . 






Nioka . 


Nsoka . 


Msota . 




Spear . 


Mkuki . 


Ichima 


Famu 




Stars . 


Niota 


Sunda . 


Munienie 




Stone . 


Jiwe . 


Iwe 






Stop . 


Simameni . 


Imaga, singular ; 
imagi, plural. 




Sun 


Toz.Mtoto. 


Muana 


Njuba . 


Take . 


Twa . 


Sola . 


Kwata . 


Tent . 


Hema 


Numba (house). 




There . 


Uko . 


Kwenuko 


Eri ... 


Thorn . 


Miba 


Minhua 





578 



VOCABULARY 



Kavirondo. 


Masai. 


Kikamba. 


Kisenga. 


Mavere . 


Kute. 


lya. 




Muesi . 


Malava 


Mwi . 


Muezi. 


Motsiili . 


Tadegagna 


Kioko . 


Mawa. 


Ra Mama 


Teyo 


Mueito 


Mama. 


Awangi . 


Kumok 


Namueta. 






Ngarna 


Wiuta. 




Moshiro . 


Kawati 


Vtuko. 




Olugho (Dutch ^/i.) 


Tigerayo . 


Koya. 




Ghirama {gh. Dutch) 


Keber 


Yulu and ulu. 






Osidoi 


Nya. 




Munsu . 


Aulo . 


Dhome. 




Ignombe 


Ingeding . 


Ghombe 


Kamgorombiro. 


Ufira . 




Oi. 




Mabuni . 


Taboni . 
Vecho. 


Makwasi 


Vinchevere (meal- 
ies), Mapira 
(matama). 


Nomolai 


Nakishan . 


Mzeo . 


Mueme. 


Umfula . 


Nkai. 


Mvua . 


Umfula. 


Omualo (mialo, 


Nkare 


Use. 




plural). 








Ingila 


Algme . 


Njia . 


Njira. 


Likundi (makundi, 


Ulkir 


Elondu 


Mberere. 


plural). 


Enewe. 






Muana niuanamao . 




Mwetu a ia. 




Likulu . 




Etu. 




Namututu 


Olgatani ote 


Kanini. 




Ingogha (Dutch ^/i.) 


Alaserai . 


Njoka . 


Nioka. 


Mfumu . 


Embele . 


Itumo . 


Muando. 


Zinianinini 


Laghir 


Ndata . 


Nieniezi. 


Lrikina . 


Soeto 


Ibia(Mabia, plural). 




Yema . 


Ntasho . 


Omama. 




Mobaso . 


Ingholo . 


Chua . 


Zua. 


Ntira 


Mbogna . 


Kwata. 




Barirere . 


Igge . . . 


Yaya. 




Mikatji . 


Ilkeko . 


Mwiwa. 





579 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 



English 




Kiswahili. 


Kinyamwesi. 


Luganda. 


To-day. 
To-morrow 
day after 
To 

Ugly . 
Underneath 
Village . 

Water . 
Wildebeest 
With . 
Wood . 

„ (to burn 

Woman 
Ye terday 

Y 

Zebra . 


) . 


Leo . 

Kecho 

Kecho Kutua . 

Ni added . 

Umfunguni 
Umji 

Maji . 
Nyumbo . 
N-a . 
Umti (miti, 

plural) . 
Kuni 

Muananke 
Jana . 

We . . 
Punda 


Lelo . 

Igolo . 

Masuli 

Ku. 

(no word). 

Umselile . 

Kaya . 

Minze . 
Mbushi(?) . 
Hamuna 

Umti (miti) . 

Lukivi (Nhwi, 
plural) 

Nikima 

Igolo (as to-mor- 
row). 

Wewe . 

Nduru . 


Lero 

Ndjio . 

Kialo 
Madzi . 

Mugasi . 



It must be noted that these words are spelled according to the orthography 
adopted by the Geographical Society, The vowels to be pronounced as in 
Italian. ^The consonants to be pronounced as in English. 



580 



VOCABULARY 



Kavirondo, 


Masai. 


Kikaniba. 


Kisenga. 


Lero 


Tata . 


Indino. 


Lero. 


Motsuli . 


Kaiseri 


Kioko. 




Ekulo. 








Mukungolisi. 








Litala (matala, 


Engang 


Mushi . 


Muzi. 


plural). 








Amatzi . 


Angale 


Manzi . 
Kena. 


Mazi. 


Tsinaye . 


Enjogobira. 






Musala . 


Inyata 


Miti. 




Tshikghwe (Dutch 


Elkek 


Guni. 




gh.) 








Moghasi {gh. Dutch) 


Mgorojoni. 


Aka . 


Namuari. 


Ekulelulia 


Engole 


Tyo. 




Eive o Korashi 


Tye . . . 


Kwakwa 


Weye. 


• 


Oletuko . 


Nzai. 





For numerals see further on. 



S8i 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 



NUMBERS 



Kiswahili. 



Kinyamwesi. 



30 



40 
SO 
60 
70 
80 
100 
1000 



Moja . 

Mbili . 

Tatu . 

Nne . 

Tano . 

Sita . 

Saba . 

Nane . 

Kenda 

Kume 

Kume na moja 
,, ,, mbili 
„ ,, tatu 
etc. 

Makume na Mb: 



Solo . 

Wili . . . 

Yatu datu Idatu . 

Inne . 

Nhanu 

'Meaga (Samou) . 

Umpungate (Tandatu) 

Nane . . . . 

Kenda 

Ikume 

, , na imo . 

,, ,, wili. 

,, ,, yatu. 
etc. 
Makume a wili (twice) 



Igana (gana) 

Ki kumbi (one thousand) 



582 



VOCABULARY 





Kavii-otido. 


Kikambi. 


Masai. 


I 


Molala . . ' . 


Mundi 


Nabo. 


2 


Mabidi 








Ele . 




Are. 


3 


Wataro 








Tatu 




Uni. 


4 


Banne 








lana 




Ognany. 


5 


Barano 








Tano 




Miet. 


6 


Uasaba 








Thanthatu 




Ille.' 


7 


Mosonvu 








Munza 




Saba. 


8 


Monana 








Nane 




Itchiet. 


9 


Waranavane (5 + 4) 




Kenda 




Sal. 


10 


Akume.* . 




Kume 




Tomon. 


II 


Akume na molala 




No word ; they begii 


1 Tomon nabo. 






again 




20 


Makume ka bidi . 


Molungo ele = two fu 
counts of 10. 


1 Tomon wore. 


30 




Three full counts of i 





40 





Four full counts of i 


D 


50 




Five full counts of i 


3 


6o 




Six full counts of 10 




70 




Seven full counts of i 





8o 




Eight full counts of i 





100 


Makume Karanua Karanua . 
(No word). 


Yona 





K is gh. Dutch. 



583 



INDEX 



Aasvogel Kop, 19 

Abakudamo, 156 

African Lakes Co., 258, 261, 287, 354 

Agriculture — 

Matabele, 160 

Tanganika plateau, 295 

Wakamba, 492 

Wakikuyu, 481 

Wanyamwezi, 349 

Waganda, 450 
Ainsworth, Mr., 484 
Albert Edward Nyanza, 406 
Albert Nyanza, 406, 501 
Amadota, 162 
Amambwe, 295, 364 
Amandabili, 150 
Amashuina, 164 
Ambali, 455 
Amerikani, 329 
Angoche, 240 
Angoni, 151, 249, 267, 282 
Angwe (river), 218 
Ankori, 502 
Anti Slavery Society, 383, 386, 520, 

553 
Arabs, 194, 265, 306 
Arruwimi (river), 409 
Arthur, Capt., 413, 431 
Athi Plains, 482 
Athi (river), 482 
Atonga, 267, 282, 286 



Bagamoyo, 304 
Bakuana, 34 
Baldapits, 18 



Bamalati, 19 

Bamangwato, 34 

Bamasasa, 442 

Bandawe, 286 

Banderini, 503 

Bangweolo Lake, 536 

Bantu, 330, 508 

Barclay, Mr., 557 

Baretto, Francisco, 239 

Baringo Lake, 471 

Barotse, 64, 543, 550 

Basiba, 440 

Basuto, 509 

Bat oka, 55 

Battiani, 559 

Bayumba, 440 

Bazizulu, 364 

Bechuanaland, 547 

,, Border Police, 29, 125 
, , Trading Assoc. , 30, 33, 
118 

Bees (attack by), 358 

Beira, 544 

Beit, Mr., 547 

Belgians, 307 

Bent, Mr., 189 

Bismarck, 540 

Blantyre, 260, 261, 354 

Bodmer, Von, Lieut., 331 

Boers, 150, 198, 546 

Bongo, 255 

Boyle, Mr., 135, 146 

Brett, Mr. , 300 

British East Africa Company, 405, 
479 

British South Africa Company, 135, 
199, 203 



585 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 



Bronsart, Von Schellendorf, 281 

Brothel, 294 

Browne, Major, 188, 196 

Buchanan, Mr. John, 262, 272 

Buddu, 401, 556 

Budjoju, 402 

Bukoba, 377, 386, 393, 555 

,, boatmen, 389 
Bukumbi, 377 
Bulawayo, 134, 156 
Bushmen, 48, 508 
Burns, Miss Grace, 326, 455 
Burton, 536 
Butzuma, 501 



Cairo, 275 

Caldecott, 197 

Cameroons, 540 

Campos, Senhor Curado de, 224 

Cannibalism, 311, 513 

Cape Colony, 545 

Cape Town, 5 

Capitao Mor, 245 

Carr Ellison, Capt., 116 

Carrington, Sir Frederick, 125 

Carson, Mr., 300 

Chakwa King, 150 

Chartered Company, 133, 136, 166, 

186, 202, 263, 275 
Charters, Dr., 497 
Chiccaculi, 416, 424 
Chicoa, 239 
Chikwawa, 259 
Chinyai, 231 
Chiradzulu, 272 
Chiromo, 238 
Chuami, 52 

Churchill, Lord Randolph, 502 
Church Missionary Society, 517 
Coffee, 272, 555 

Colenbrander, Mr., 14, 135, 137 
Colquhoun, Mr., 200 
Colvile, Col. Sir Henry, 416, 452, 

502, 557 
Congo, 292 
Congo Free State, 308, 539 



Cracknell, Mr., 504 
Crawshaw, Mr., 281 
Crocodile River, 27 
Cross, Dr., 287 
Cuama, 238, 255 
Cunningham, Major, 479, 502 
Cust, Mr. H. C, 546 
Customs — 
Funerals : 

Barotse, 79 

Matabele, 161 

Portuguese Zambezi (Goa, 
Senga), 232 

Tanganika plateau, 294 

Waganda, 446 

Wakamba, 491 
Marriage : 

Barotse, 78 

Matabele, 158 

Portuguese Zambezi (Goa, 
Senga), 233 

Soudanese, 430 

Tanganika plateau, 294 

Waganda, 445 

Wakamba, 490 

Wanyamwezi, 346 

D 

Dagoreti, 480 
Dakka, 24 

,, pipe, 24 
Damaraland, 540 
Dance, Matabele, 155 
Dandi (river), 219 
David, 280, 311, 373, 452, 472, 499 
Dawson, J., 135 
De Beer's Mining Company, 6 
Deep Bay, 287 
Delgado, Cape, 240, 253 
Dinka, 558 
Domira, 281 



Eldoma (river), 471 
Elgon, Mount, 467 
Elliot, Mr. Scott, 439, 455 
El Nandi, 466, 470 
Emin Pasha, 406 



586 



INDEX 



Farley, Mr., 128, 129 

Fife, 292 

Fires (in Veldt), 14 

Fisher, Mr., 422 

Flaori, Mount, 289 

Forbes, Major, 544 

Foster, Mr., 425 

Fountain Hope, 146, 149, 168 

French Evangelical Mission, 60 

Funerals. (See Customs. ) 

Funza, 375 

Fwambo, 293 

,, Liomba, 293 

G 
Gaberones, 21 
Gazuma, 56 
Gazaland, 200 
Germans, 353, 356, 361, 371, 530, 

553 
Gerufa Vley, 105 
Gibb, Capt., 438 
Goa (people), 231 
Gold working, 207 
Goschenland, 541 
Grant, Fort, 425 

,, Mr.. 457, 460, 558 
GrantuUy Castle, 5 
Griqua, 509 
Guaso Masai (river), 468 

H 
Hall, Mr., 479, 560 
Hampden, Mount, 199 
Hannington, Bishop, 461 
Hartebeest, 368 
Hartmann, 397 
Hastings, Mr., 276 
Hatch, Brigadier-General, 504 
Helm, Mr. and Mrs., 146, 149 
Hepburn, The Rev., 35 
Herald, 259 

,, Port, 257 
Hero, Mount, 327 
Heymann, Capt., 200 
Hillier, Mr., 258 



Hirth, Major, 379, 424 
Hofmeyer, Mr., 546 
Homena, Vasco Fernandez, 239 
" Hongo," 469 

Hope Fountain, 146, 149, 168 
Huts, Native, 22, 26, 83, 360 
,, Musimo, 346 

I 

Igombe, 362, 373 
Igundo, 373 
Ikaneng, 18, 20 
Imbezu, 156 
Imbolo, 170 
Impandini, 141 
Implements, Barotse, 83 
Impololo, 70 
Indians, 269 
Indoba, 328 
Ingubo, 156 
Inhambane, 240, 253 
Inhamecuta, 224 
Iniakatanda, 255 
Inyangakwe, 190 
Inyarugwe, 452 
Inyati, 156 
Irindi, 336 

Iron-working, 297, 494 
Isanga, 373 
Isikisa, 355 
Itogo, 363 
Ivory, 244, 274, 521, 534 

Jack, 117 
Jackson, Mr., 405 
Jacques, Capt., 308 
Jacob, 62 
Jalla, M., 60, 89 
Jameson, Dr., 197 
Jesuits, 247 
Jiggers, 375, 567 
Joala, 35, 165 
Johnson, Capt., 284 
John's Staadt, 23 

,, Fort, 257, 284 
Johnston, Sir Harry, 260, 275, 5i{ 
543 



587 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 



Joncalo de Silveira, 37 
Joseph, 92 
Juba, 503 
Juma, 386 
Jumbe, 263, 284 

K 
Kabaka, 440 
Kabarega, 416, 501 
Kabunga, 421 
Kaffirs, 509 
Kafui (river), 164, 429 
Kageriro, 402 
Kagera, 393, 401, 413 
Kahigi, 393 

Kalahari (desert), 7, 67, 89, 176 
KakTlu, 365 

Kampala, 406, 436, 456, 502 
Kamanyro, 457 
Kangoo, 442 
Karagwe, 401 
Karema, 308 
Karonga, 262 
Kasaia (river), 66 
Kasembe, 352 
Kashumba, 224 
Kasiki, 315 
Kasimbo, 313 
Kasongo, 308 
Katikiro, 440 
Katiwe wa Kabaka, 442 
Katone (river), 68 
Katumbi, 429 
Katunga, 231 

Kavalli's, 406, 463, 467, 558 
Kavirondo, 460 
Kayoza, 393, 398 
Kazungula, 85 
Kebra Baca, 228 
Kedong (valley), 478 

,, (river), 478 
Kenia, Mount, 480 
Kera, 293 
Kerera, 349 
Kessler, Mr., 175 
Khama, 34, 548 
Khami (river), 169 



Khantura, 25 
Kibero, 501 
Kiboka, 440 
Kiboko, 321, 381 
Kiboko (river), 496 
Kibwezi, 497 
Kidd, Mr., 292 
Kikuyu, 452, 479, 480 

,, Mountains, 479 
Kilima Njaro, Mount, 484 
Kilungu (river), 495 
Kimberley, 6 
Kinako, 432 
Kinyamwezi, 362 
Kionga Nionga, 289 
Kirunda, 300 
Kisa, 324 
Kisinda, 335 
Kissagama, 502 
Kiswahili, 279, 353 
Kiswanlandeso, 347 
Kitanbala, 421 
Kitinda, 440 
Kituta, 300 
Kolaberg, 67 
Kome, 386 
Konongo, 348 
Kosju, 442 
Kota Kota, 263, 286 
Kruger (President), 198 
Kuadeba, 51 
Kufu, 35.7 
Kufulu Pundu, 347 
Kulonga, 334 
Kumalo, 151 
Kumba Masaka, 363 
Kunungori, 428 
Kuruma, 425 



Labagaba, 441 
Lahumbo (river), 373 
Langheldt, Dr., 378, 397 
Lanjora, 484 
Lechaneng VI ey, 30, 116 
Lekothla, 20 
Lesa, 293 



INDEX 



Leshulatchi, 67 
Leshuma, 59 
Lewanika, 76, 88, 543 
Lialui, 74, 102, 550 
Limpopo (river), 27, 150 
Linchwe, 21 
Linda (god), 440 
Lindu, 432, 463 
Linokani, 49, 1 1 9 
Linyanti (river), 15, 19, 60 
Lions, loS, 467, 499 
Livingstone, Dr., 67, 536 

,, Mount, 2S7, 553 

Liwonde, 283 
Lloyd, Mr., 117 
Lobengula, 137, 143, 155 
Lobo, Jose d'Araujo, 141, 224 
Loch (Lord), 5, 21, 195 
Logonat, Mount, 477 
Lomunganda, 217 
London Missionary Society, 336 
Lothaire, Major, 308 
Lotsani (river), 121 
Lualabu (river), 538 
Luapula River, 537 
Luarwe, 286 
Lubadu, 441 
Lubanja, 431 
Lubuya, 440 
Lubwa, 458, 460 
Lugard, Capt., 405, 410, 556 

Fort, 428 
Lugumba, 458 
Luhoga, 331, 335 
Luiki (river), 315 
Lukogo qua Kanaka, 357 
Lumi, 300 
Lundi, 190 
Lu panda, 321 

Lupata, Gorge of, 239, 255 
Lwekula, 429 

M 
Macdonald, Capt., 410, 557 
MacDowell, Mr., 129 
Machakos, 484 
Macloutsie, 184 



Mackinnon, Sir William, 497, 540 

Madeira Diego, 239 

Mafeking, 15, 17 

Magembe, 355 

Magog weni, 168 

Magonga, 439 

Maguire, Mr. Rochfort, 198, 542 

Magwewe, 155 

Maholi, 170 

Maholo, 373 

Magi a Chumvi, 501 

Majoka, 162 

Major, 146, 183 

Makalaka, 132, 139, 150, 168, 172 

Makangoira, 151 

Makarikari Lake, 51 

Makololo, 67, 267 

Makwenda, 421 

Mala, 485 

Malagrazi, 355 

Malahani, 355 

Malainga, 326, 452 

Malombwe, 284 

Mambari, 102 

Mambo, 150, 175 

Mambwe, 293, 300 

Ma Moeriosane, 69 

Manianja, 267 

Mangwato, 29 

Ma.T\gwe, 132, 172, 174 

Mantalis, 68 

Manyema, 311, 352 

Manyonga, 364 

Marago a fundi, 501 

Mariam, M., 308 

Mariba, 320 

Marico (river), 23 

INIarimba, 274 

Maqua, 284 

Marques Lorenzo, 240, 253 

Marriage. (See Customs. ) 

Masai, 464, 466, 469, 475 

Masarwa, 13 

Maekere, 313 

Masiko, 70 

Mashonaland, 163, 184, 551 

Mashotlane, 70 



589 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 



Mashukolumbwe, 8i, 164 
Mashumpa, 220 
Massi-Kesse, 200 
Matabele, 147, 150 
Matabeleland, 130, 150, 542, 

550 
Matakania, 141, 221, 223, 452 
Matamdumba, 179 
Mathlala, 50 
Mathlamabedi, 47 
Matoka, 68, 81 
Matope, 260, 281 
Matopo, 132, 172 
Matotela, 550 
Matu, 439 
Maungu, 499 
Ma-Viti, 151 

Maxwell, Major, 129, 134 
McCormack, Mr., 292 
Mengo, 406 
Mesa, 45 

Metsu Moshu River, 41 
Mforongo, 335 
Mfumbiro, 458 
Mfumu, 244, 356, 362, 365 
Middleton, Mr. , 20 
Miguel, Fort San, 240 
Minerals — 

Gold, 274 

Iron, 274, 297 
Mini Mambwe, 293 
Mirambo, 340 
Mission d' Alger, 293 
Mkalesi, 292 
Mlanje, 264 

,, Mountains, 276 
Moanja, 435 
Mochudi, 21 
MofFatt, Dr., 431 
,, Mr., 541 
Mogunja, 328 
Mokasa, 440 
Mokeba, 333 
Mokondo, 372 
Mokoruani Flats, 54 
Mokumba, 64 
Molyoa, 457 



Mombasa, 352, 410, 503 

Mombova, 64 

Monarch Gold Mine, 139, 174, 

182 
Monemba, 70 
Monkey Bay, 283, 285 
Monomatapa, 195, 240 
Montedoro, 240 
Moodie, Mr., 201, 209 
Mopingue River, 217 
"Mosquito," 259 
Mosquito Bank, 257 
Mozambique, 240 

,, Company, 205, 240, 

545 
Mpakwe River, 132, 190 
Mpalera, 60 

Mpanda Chalo, 152, 361 
Mpempe,7o 
Mpenza, 293 
Mpesine, 151 
Mpimbi, 281 

Msaba-bin-ben-Luali, 313 
Msalala, 372 

,, Mountains, 373 
Mtali, 329, 332 
Mtesa, 404 
Mtowa, 308 
Mtusi, 333 

Muabanzi (river), 259 
Muami, 461 
Muanza, 377, 555 
Muavi, 323 
Mugema, 442 
Mugiolaba, 409 
Mugosi, 442 
Mumia, 462, 465 
Murchison Rapids, 261 
Musale, 441 
Muserire River, 317 
Musia Tumia, 21 
Musigiri, 442 

Musimo, 293, 328, 343, 344, 352 
Musoke, 440 
Mutanan Yangamba, 442 
Muta Tembo, 393 
Mwanga, 404, 410, 417 



590 



INDEX 



Mwatu, 485 
Mwenzo, 292 
Mweru (Lake), 275 
Mwingi Kombo, 285 
Mwiri Wanda, 290 

N 
Nabikande, 440 
Nabugabe, 425 
Nabutiti, 425 
Naivasha Lake, 475 
Nakuro (lake), 474 
Nallasogewi (river), 468 
Namasole, 440 
Nansombo, 457 
Napier, Mr., 196 
Nassor - ben - Suliman - ben - Juma, 

308 
Nata Drift, 1 1 1 

,, (river), 53, 176 
Nayaonie, 440 
Ndala, 357 
Ndi, 497 

Nelson, Capt., 480 
Nera, 371, 374 
Ngae, 489 

Ngami (lake), 69, 164 
Nganda, 440 
Niao Nalozi, 324 
Nicoll, Mr., 284 
Nindo, 370 

Ningen Mountains, 467 
Njumba Serere, 314, 329 
Ntebe, 402, 418 
Nwiangnia Nwongio, 62 
Nyamanga Mountains, 218 
Nyangwe, 537 
Nyanza ya Makalesi, 292 
Nyasa (lake), 151 
Nyasaland, 255, 552 
Nzoi, Mount, 496 
Nzoia, 465 



Orleans, Prince Henri of, 379 
Owen, Major, 414, 501, 557 



Palapshwe, 8, 28, 116 

Pandamatenga, 55, 100 

Pangiro, 370 

Panyami River, 219 

Parumbira, Bay of, 553 

Paulet, Lord Henry, 188, 196 

Pennifather, 199 

Perkiss, Mr., 431, 501 

Pero, 351 

Peters, Dr., 405 

Pfeil, 258 

Pigott, Mr., 503 

Pigmies of Congo, 509 

Pilkington, Mr., 432 

Pinto, Serpa, 262 

Pokino, 442 

Portal, Sir Gerald, 413, 479, 557 

Portuguese, 239, 551 

Prazzo system, 241 

Printz, Lieut., 353 

Prostitution, 294 

Providential Pass, 188 

Pungwe, 550 



Quilimane, 240 



R 



Ramokwebani River, 131 

Ramootsa, 19 

Raymond, Fort, 422 

Rhodes, The Right Honourable 

Cecil John, 136, 197, 20S, 275, 

541 
Rhodes, Dedication, vi 

,, Colonel, 413 
Rhodesia, 207, 264, 507 
Richter, Lieut., 397 
Ricico, 222 
Rikwa, Lake, 554 
Rinderpest, 333, 565 
Ripon Falls, 457 
Ro Angwa (river), 151 
Robinson, Sir Hercules, 541 
Rokuru, 289 



591 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 



Rovuma, 553 

Ruanda, 152 

Rudd, 198, 542 

Ruga- Ruga, 152, 372 

Rumalisa, 304 

Ruo River, 238, 257 

Rusizi (river), 327 

Ruwenzori Mountains, 406 



Sabi (river), 191 

" Sabre," 256 

Sagamuga, 217 

Sahiri, 334 

Saisi, 300 

Salawe, 372 

Salisbury, 197 

Samburu, 501 

Samia Mountains, 465 

Sani, 347 

Scio (river), 465 

Sclater, Capt., r.e. , 260, 472 

Sclater Road, 260, 275 

Scotland, Free Church, 286 

Scott, Capt., 129 

Sebitoani, 67 

Sechele, 67 

Sekeletu, 69 

Sekonyela, 68 

Selim Bey, 406, 413 

Selous, Mr., 210 

Semanikiri, 218 

Semokwe (river), 191 

Senga, 231 

Senna, 239, 256 

Sepolilo, 217 

Serpa Pinto, 262 

Sesse, 402 

Sharpe, Fort, 281 

Sharpe, Mr., 260 

Shashani River, 132 

J, ,, Little, 172 

Shashi (river), 126, 186 
Shaw, Mr., 336 
Shesheke, 62, 67, 84 
Shinanga, 216 



Shire, 238, 257, 261 

Shoshong, 34 

Shumpaoli, 173 

Siegl, Herr, 331, 352, 384 

Sikki, 353 

Silveira, Joncalo da, 239 

Sindai, 373, 374 

Singo, 429 

Sinoia, 214 

Slavery, 247, 249, 293, 519 

Smith, Fort, 479 

,, IN'Iajor, 480 
Sofala, 28 
Sokoso, 42 
Solwa, 372, 374 
Somali, 330 
Somasti, 286 
Sotoka, 299, 333 
Soudanese, 269, 406 
Speke, 536 
Spire, 432 
Spreckley, Mr., 214 
Stanley, Mr, H. M., 136, 315, 321, 

354> 370, 404, 537 
Stellaland, 541 
Stevenson, Rd., 291, 532 
Stokes, Mr., 308, 355, 361, 529 
Stones, The, 283 
Subugo (forest), 471 
Sunanane, 70 
Swann, Mr., 287 
Swazi, 150 



Tabora, 351, 352, 554 

Tamakaliani Vley, 108 

Tana River, 560 

Tanganika, Lake, 263, 290, 300, 

315 
Taru, 500 
Taru Desert, 500 
Tati, 186 

,, Company, 129 

,, Concession, 130 

,, River, 128, 150, 174, 190 
Taveta, 500 



59: 



INDEX 



Taylor, 135 

Telegraph, Transcontinental, 275 

Tete, 230, 240 

Thaba Induna, 135 

Thompson, Mr., 542 

Thrushton, Captain, 431 

Tippo Tip, 308 

Toro, 502 

Transvaal, 150, 507, 546 

Tsavo, 497 

Tshambezi, 292 

Tshaneng Mountain, 41 

Tuga Moto, 340, 342 

Tuli, 18, 184 

U 

Ubague, 348 

Ubanghi (river), 509 

Uganda, 288, 404, 452, 461, 556 

Uhha, 319, 321, 336 

Uhlo (river), 364, 373 

Uitlanders, 547 

Ujiji, 303, 554 

Ukaia, 328 

Ukambani, 485 

Ukerewe, 383 

Ukombe, 349 

Umbukwe, 190 

Umlagala, 155 

Umsene, 348 

Umsili Gazi, 68, 150, 175 

Umsuasi, 177 

Umtagazo, 330, 332 

Umteko, 323 

Umtene, 342 

Ungwezi (river), 65 

Unyamwezi, 336 

Unyanyembe, 352 

Unye, 355 

Unyoa, 348 

Unyonga Mountains, 317 

„ Valley, 533 
Unyoro, 404, 557 
Upanda Chalo, 342, 372 
Upcher, Archdeacon, 187, 196 
Urambo, 313, 348, 356 



Urima, 375 
Usagosi, 348 
Usange, 348 
Usarambo, 348 
Ushetu, 349 

Usikuma, 370, 375, 555 
Usoga, 456, 461, 557 
Utao, 357 
Uvinna, 319, 327 
Uyogo, 348 

V 
Vaal (river), 150 
Vallet Mountain, 60 
Vendetta, 294 
Victoria, 188, 195 
Victoria Falls, 96 
Victoria Nyanza, 152, 355, 378, 

386 
Villiers, Lieut., 402, 413, 425, 

502 
Voi river, 498 
Vryburg, 9 

W 
"Wa Daki," 371 
Waddington, M., 479 
Wadelai, 501 
Waduhu, 354 
Wa Duruma, 501 
Waganda, 331, 409, 439 
Wagani, 342 

Wahha, 152, 321, 336, 554 
Wahehe, 151, 554 
Wahima, 330 
Wajiji, 307 
Wakamba, 480 
Wa Kavirondo, 467 
Wakikuyu, 480, 560 
Wall, Mr., 55, 100 
Waluyerabe, 442 
Wamala, Lake, 422 
Wana Omari, 284, 286, 377 
Wangwana, 315, 316 
Wanyamwezi, 152, 316, 336, 342, 

345 
Wanyoro, 428 



THREE YEARS IN SAVAGE AFRICA 



Waruanda, 554 

Wasoga, 464 

Watcha Vley, 107, 181 

Watusi, 330 

Weber, 198 

Weil, Mr. B., 122 

Weil, Messrs. Julius and Co., 18, 

186 
Westbeach, 100 
Whight, Lieut., 22 
Wildebeest, 368 
Wiliamkuru, 348 
Williams, Capt., 406 
Wilson, Major, 196 
Wilson, Mr., 497 
Wise, Mr., 386 
Wissmann, Major, 258, 281, 285 

288, 405, 553 



Witch Doctors, 153 
Wogoli, 343 



Yakelela, 333 
Yaos, 267 



Zambezi (river), 60, 82, 89 

Zambezia, Portuguese, 551 

Zanzibar, 504 

Zebras, 368 

Zimbabwe, 39, 175, 189, 191 

Zimizia, 365 

Ziuziu, 257 

Zomba, 265, 276 

Zulu, 150, 152 

Zumbo, 102, 221, 240 



594 



PLYMOUTH 

WILLIAM BRENDON AND SON 

PRINTERS 



6f 



15 Ql R 



e 



